


Blood Bound

by platinumgigi



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Canon Compliant, F/M, Gen, Multi, Original Character(s), Post-Season/Series 02, Tinker actually has a name in this btw, also the disaster siblings play a bigger role in this too, and rayla has a big sis how cool is that, i dont know how to tag stuff, im new to this pls bear with me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-02
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-07 23:38:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 24,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17970242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/platinumgigi/pseuds/platinumgigi
Summary: Blood is blood, no matter whose it is. And it is those whose blood we share in our bodies, our biological relation, that we hold the closest. Everyone has that kind of blood; it’s life.Rayla never said a word about anyone in her personal life but her parents, her resentment went a long way to a lot more people than just them. Family wasn’t a word that held as much depth to her as it did to others, and she certainly knew how much it did mean to others. But family was just more ties that bind her to people she knows don't care about her, and as an assassin, attachment wasn’t something she should ever give in to.So imagine her dismay when a fateful encounter with a ferocious monstrosity in the woods of Xadia led her to reuniting bitterly with her cold, and distant older sister.With trying to push her family out of her life, and the stress of returning Azymondias back to the Queen of Dragons, Callum tries his best to steer Rayla away from leading herself into her own misery, and seems to be the only one who can fix her broken relationship with her sister. But all the while he wonders; would this just cause more pain?





	1. Moonbrush

**Author's Note:**

> aAAaAhHaH?? i'm actually posting this?? i dunno guess i am. aNYWHOOO! welcome to my first ever ao3 fic! lemme just tell you this is so weird and i have no idea what i'm doing. but since this seems to be one of the most popular places where people post their fic stuff, i decided why not join in on the fun? i've been in the process of writing this ever since season 2 came out a couple weeks ago but my work on it has been slow because of school and things getting in the way. but!! i'm the kind of person who likes to write lots so expect relatively long chapters! (and a feverishly inconsistent update schedule)
> 
> so to sum up what this fic is just a little bit more, while this is a rayllum fic for sure (i cant help it i just love these kiddos so freakin much) it's not primarily a rayllum fic, y'know? this story is kinda like a post-season 2 au/fanon season 3 i guess? we're basically picking up where we left off and going on from there, and i plan on this being a fairly long multi-chap fic that will (hopefully) exceed about 5 chapters because as i said, veeeeery inconsistent updates. but this is a story that i've been working hard on, have mapped out, and i'm very motivated with working on. so yes while rayllum is gonna be big and present in this story, also be prepared to have some new characters and lotsa world-building because i'm a fuckin sucker for world-building. that being said, i hope this doesn't suck and you enjoy! - Gigi

“It’s him.”

The light of the morning sun glistened down on the three of them as they walked through the canyon path deeper into the outskirts of Xadia. With Zym clutching onto his shoulder as they ventured, and seeing the uncontainable smile of excitement on Rayla’s face, Callum couldn’t help but feel as eager as he was nervous at this moment.

Ever since Rayla came into the lives of him and his brother, Callum couldn’t help but wonder what Xadia must be like. The more he’s learned about their new elven friend, his thoughts would wander to how she might’ve been raised, what elves taught her to think, what elves always thought in general. It was a scary thought, and the fact that his thoughts may have an answer he didn’t like terrified him to no end, especially now that he was going to find out. Though, that curiosity in him was an endless sensation, and Rayla’s presence being much more calm and determined than his own gave him a level of comfort that helped him cope.

It was up until a few seconds ago that he was starting to feel better, but now he stares wide-eyed at a large—larger than Callum even thought was possible—Sunfire dragon.

“Sol Regem.” The words barely stuck in Callum’s mind as his focus was nowhere to be found other than on the sheer size of the monstrosity before him. He could feel Zym’s grip on his shoulder tighten, and taking his eyes off of the dragon for a brief moment to look at Rayla, that comfort with her he once was feeling was now diminished as he could see the same horror reflected in her eyes.

“Sol…Regem?” Callum nervously repeated, his eyes still darting from Rayla back to the ancient dragon sitting atop a throne of canyon rocks a little ways away. “Who is he?”

“He’s been the acting gatekeeper of Xadia for centuries alongside the King of the Dragons,” Rayla’s voice was small, shaky, but audible enough to hear. “And he had been guarding the border from humans by himself ever since…”

Rayla tensed, swallowing hard as she continued. “I just don’t know why he’s _here_ and not out _there_ , where he would be.”

The large draconic beast, head raised high enough where the sunlight was almost completely blocked from their vision, slowly stood from where he laid. Already a very immense creature, he bowed himself to let his wings expand; these giant masses of scarred, bronze tinted scales and flesh emerge from his body as he righted himself, staring down at the duo and the dragonling.

Quickly, much quicker than they even anticipated, Sol Regem leapt down from his pillar of rocks and stone and landed into the earth below him, the dry pathway practically crushed under his weight. A gust of wind billowed beneath the impact toward Rayla and Callum and the Dragon Prince, tremoring their balances for a brief moment. Head raised again, an even larger shadow cascading onto them, Sol Regem stood his full height; towering over with intimidation no one could ever believe.

Callum could hardly breathe just looking at him, despite the words of him mother in his feverish dreamscape, oxygen just couldn’t find its way into his lungs.

Rayla felt the same. Her swords were instinctively drawn in a defensive state, but she knew with all of her mind there was no way violence against this creature would end well on their part. She was on the brink of panic, her heartbeat racing a mile a minute for something, anything to come to her mind in the next few seconds while Sol Regem just stood there, staring.

Azymondias suddenly came to her thoughts, and she wanted to curse herself so badly for not remembering sooner he was with them, and he was the reason they were where they were. She sheathed her swords behind her back and stepped toward her friends.

Taking Zym off of Callum’s shoulder—catching them both off guard for a moment—Rayla held Zym in her hands as the dragonling looked up at her with curious, but still fearful eyes. She couldn’t help but share a weak smile with him as she whispered. “It’s okay, bud, we’re gonna be just fine.”

Looking up at the much, much larger dragon in front of her, Rayla took a single step forward to Sol Regem. Slow, careful, and cautious. No reaction setting her alarms, she took another. And another. Her slow pace contrasted the large step she took, and now she was even closer than she wanted to be with Xadia’s ancient protector.

“Sol Regem,” she spoke, voice loud and sturdy as could be, but still a sense of uncertainty laced within. “In my hands, I hold the Dragon Queen’s long lost son, Azymondias, the Dragon Prince. He was taken as an egg many months ago, and now hatched and breathing, I am here to return him to his mother.”

Rayla bit her lip, speaking quickly again to correct herself as she glanced back at Callum. “We are here to return him.”

Callum could focus a little more now, Rayla pretending to be confident in this situation gave him just a little bit of courage so he could fake it too. He looked at Sol, now that his attention was more focused, he noticed how Rayla wasn’t lying about this dragon being centuries old. Parts of Sol’s horns and scales were broken and withered, the edges of his wings tattered and scraped to no end. The most noticeable, and most terrifying trait of all was the huge burn scar that smothered the entire left side of Sol Regem’s face, one eye half shut and cataract-ridden was surrounded by boiled skin and peeling scales, the other eye a brilliant sky blue, with a slit-like pupil glared down at Rayla below him.

Something about how scarred and mangled the aged Sol was made Callum feel a strong sense of pity, but at the same time, there was no way whoever did that to his face survived in the end.

Sol Regem’s head slowly leveled to Rayla’s own sized, his chin barely grazing the ground as his beard tickled the dry land. He snorted, hot steam puffing out of his nostrils and fogging the area around Rayla momentarily. With Zym still in one arm she waved it out of her face, eyes making contact with Sol’s. She held Zym out closer, her hands trembling, threatening her grasp as she tried to hold on to the dragonling but still being wary of his own well-being.

Sol’s good eye examined the little dragon wiggling in this young elven girl’s grasp. He wiggled around uncomfortably, but when realizing the intense gaze held upon him, Zym stopped moving, staring back at the impossibly large creature with a gaze of his own.

They stared at each other long enough that left Callum and Rayla almost surprised that this wasn’t a staring contest. It went on for what could only be a few minutes, but the deafening silence of the canyon made it feel like hours. Rayla held her breath, but doing so made her feel like she was going to collapse at any minute. The waiting was unbearable.

And then sunlight struck her eyes yet again.

Blinding light compared to the shade of Sol Regem’s presence over her, Zym slipped out of her arms momentarily as she reeled back, but quickly scooping him up again in a split second.

Callum, Rayla and Zym all watched as Sol Regem backed away, standing up straight and preparing to lift off yet again. Sparing one final glance at the trio so far down below his head, he gave what looked like a nod, and then sprung back into the air, leaving one final whoosh of dirt in the air as he took to the sky at an incredible speed.

He became a distant spec in the sky in no more than half a minute as they all stood there dumbfounded, even the little dragon’s jaw hanging open in awe at whatever they just witnessed.

“So…” the tension finally breaks with an internal sigh from the trio as Callum spoke up. “That…happened.”

“Yeah…”

Silence falls again for a minute or two, this time much less stressful and more relieved, the two taking their time to collect their thoughts and Zym getting comfortable climbing onto Rayla’s shoulder.

“What exactly does this mean?” Callum asked. “Where do you think he’s going?”

“I have no idea. Maybe to tell the Dragon Queen we’re here?” Rayla shrugged as she looked back at her travelling companion.

Zym chirped on Rayla’s shoulder, and took a small lock of her hair into his mouth, nibbling on it lightly. Small static sparks flickered from his mouth, and bits of Rayla’s hair floated with his chewing.

She laughed and released her hair from his mouth. “Someone hungry, are we?”

Zym appropriately licked Rayla’s cheek in response, shocking her skin gently as she chuckled and held him in her arms again. “I guess now’s a better time than any to take a breather and eat something, especially after that whole scenario.”

Callum nodded, already going to his bag to find something to eat as Rayla kept an eye out for a decent spot to rest. “Yeah, I knew dragons were all big and scary and stuff, but one like that up close really—“

He stopped in the middle of his sentence, suddenly, earning the attention of Rayla ahead of him. “What? What’s wrong?”

Callum looked back at her with a sheepish grin. “Hey, uh, you know how um, Ezran kinda always carried the food around with him in his backpack? And, not with like, any of us…?”

Rayla stared at him, then lets out and exhausted groan and slaps a palm to her forehead, letting Zym hop out of her grip to the ground below. “Oh my gods, Callum, are you serious?”

“Hey, look, I’m sorry! I forgot to ask, okay? And I’m sure Ez forgot too or else he would’ve given it to us, it’s not entirely my fault!” Callum pled, his tone also wavering with dreariness and a general longing for anything but a lecture right then.

“I know, I know, but that means we have nothing! I’m out of Moonberry juice for the time being, and if you don’t have anything else then when have nothing to eat, more importantly Zym doesn’t have anything either.” Rayla replies, rubbing her temples in an attempt to calm her aggravation.

“Zym will be fine, Rayla. He can go a little while longer without food, it’s not a big deal. We just need to focus on getting him closer to his mother, that’s why we’re here.”

Callum reached out to touch Rayla’s arm and gave her a sympathetic look. “Besides, we’re here now which means we’re already pretty close. How much longer do you think it’d take for us to get to the Queen?”

“About a month.”

“See, I told you it’s only about—ABOUT A MONTH?!” Only realizing what she just said in the middle of his sentence, Callum gawked in surprise.

“Yes, about a month, you dummy. The Dragon Queen’s lair is located in the heart of Xadia. What, did you it’d be just around the corner or something?” Rayla placed her hands on her hips and answered, raising an eyebrow.

“Well a heads up would’ve been nice.” Callum grumbled, letting his shoulder slump as he stared back at the elven assassin with a frustrated glare.

“Oh, well I’m sorry, it’s not like this isn’t a whole other half of a continent or anything. Sorry that adventures aren’t as convenient as you’d thought they’d be, sad prince.” Rayla sent a glare back his way and said.

While it was no secret that the two of them had been getting along so much better ever since they first met, now that the journey was only consisting of them and a creature incapable of speech, they couldn’t avoid the inevitable to come; arguing over the littlest of things.

Zym watched as he sat on his haunches in between the two, head whipping back and forth as they spurred insults and harsh words at each other for seemingly no reason. Eventually, their arguing subsided and they gave mostly well-intended apologies toward each other, but Rayla couldn’t help but stare at the dragon at her feet.

“We really just spent 5 minutes arguing about nothing while you’re sitting here starving, huh Zym?” she sighed solemnly, lifting up Zym in her arms yet again to hold his adorable little face close to hers.

He yipped, licking the very tip of Rayla’s nose as she giggled and held him toward Callum, letting him perch on the human’s shoulder like before.

“In any case, where do you think would be the closest place to get food, at least for Zym?” Callum asked while stroking Zym’s fuzzy mane, and the baby dragon nestled closer into his touch.

“Well, if we continue down this path, I’d say the closest place to any thriving vegetation would be about two days travel, but…” Rayla trailed off.

“But?” Callum gave her a quizzical glance.

“There is a shortcut that I know of to a different section of Xadia not that far from where we are now. I’m not anticipating going there for many reasons, but if we want to get something for the little guy before he starves to death, it seems to be our only option.”

“Okay, but what’s so wrong with going?” asked Callum again as he straightened the strap of his bag and they instinctually started moving forward down along the pathway.

“Well, the place I’m talking about is called the Moonbrush. It’s the central forest that surrounds Lunumbra, aka the Moonshadow city capital of Xadia,” Rayla looked back at Callum with a sheepish grin of her own and scratched the back of her neck. “Aka the city I grew up in.”

“Really?” Callum’s eyes lit up with a sudden energy that Rayla was expecting, for the most part. “Well that’s great! I’d love to see where you grew up, why don’t we just go?”

Rayla’s following chuckle fell into a sigh, and she shook her head. “I know you would, but we can’t. Firstly, the Moonbrush is a dense, thick, and dark forest filled with a lot of scary creatures who definitely aren’t friendly to unwelcome visitors in their territory. Secondly, Lunumbra is farther north than where we want to be heading. It will only put on more time to get to the Dragon Queen if we go for a visit.”

Callum’s excitement faltered upon her explanation, but he nodded understandingly. “Oh…well that sucks. But I get it, I get it. Zym first, touring the rest of Xadia later.”

“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t stop at the Moonbrush, though,” Rayla added. “There’s a pretty good chance we’ll find some more Moonberries and such for Zym and ourselves to last us as long as we need, and if it’s our best chance we got there’s no use in not taking it.”

“Well then, shall we?” Callum grinned and asked.

“We shall. But, just for a warning, you may want to hang onto that scarf best you can.”

**___________________**

They were about an hour into the Moonbrush, and the heavy snow blanketing the ground was already freezing Callum’s feet. His teeth were chattering as he huddled Zym for warmth, coddling the dragonling in his scarf as much as possible. Rayla, however seemed relatively unfazed by the temperature and the weight of the snow on her feet.

“Thanks for the w-warning, Rayla,” Callum stammered. “B-But y-y-you know, y-you could be a little more s-specific with them from here on out. Why is it s-so cold here anyway?”

Rayla gave Callum a pitiful smile looking back at him, and continued to inspect the trees and shrubs close to her. “The Moonbrush has its own magical properties in which the seasons in your kingdoms don’t necessarily apply to it. In Xadia, sure, it’s also the middle of spring, and everything should be all warm and sunny. But in the Moonbrush it can be colder than the harshest winter you’ve ever experienced in your life.”

Callum regarded Rayla’s words, nodding to himself, but was unable to shake that rising feeling of panic he’d been getting from being in this forest. “G-Good to know.”

“Well, at least, that’s what I’ve been taught growing up. I haven’t been in this forest often enough to know its weather patterns.” Rayla shrugged, and ran her hand along the side of a tree next to her. “I do know that it’s not always like this. I guess the warmer the rest of Xadia and your kingdoms are, the colder the Moonbrush is.”

Her fingers traced along the grooves of the tree bark, which was much smoother and more intricate than any tree she’s felt outside of Xadia. The bark’s deep teal color and gentle touch gave her that feeling on nostalgia she was hoping to find, now that she was back home. She didn’t realize how much she missed the trees there until she actually touched one again.

“There should be some Moonberries around here somewhere. They usually grow on low-hanging tree branches like these instead of bushes.” She said, inspecting her surroundings for any sign of them.

After letting her eyes scan the forest for a bit, under the blanket of canopy darkening the area around her, Rayla’s vision finally landed on what she was looking for. At the edge of her sight she saw another tree with lighter blue leaves, compared to the rest of the forest, and branches that swooped down lower than the others. Venturing closer, she could see the recognizable sight of Moonberries budding in between each leaf.

“Ah, I found ‘em!” she exclaimed, hopping over to the tree quickly, leaving Callum and Zym to trudge slowly behind in the seemingly sourceless snow.

Looking at them for himself, the Moonberries weren’t at all what Callum was expecting. They were tiny, opalescent berries of white and periwinkle that grew together in bunches like raspberries, except each cluster had varying shapes and quantities to them. Some would be bunches of 3 or 4, others looked like maybe a dozen that were just glued together in a haste.

“Huh,” he thought aloud. “I k-kinda thought Moonberries were supposed to be red? And, uh, singular?”

Rayla was already picking some off the tree, speaking as she pocketed them. “The juice is red, but Moonberries typically look like little pearls and such. Something I always liked about them. When you think about it, they’re kinda like people.”

“People?”

“Yeah, you know. An array of different colors and shapes on the outside, but they all bleed the same color.” Rayla explained as she took a ripe white berry in between her fingers and squashed it, crimson liquid bursting from the now crushed fruit and dribbling down her hand.

Callum gave a chuckle. “If only the rest of the humans and elves would listen to your berry philosophy, maybe they wouldn’t hate each other as much as they do if they just understood we’re not all that different on the inside.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” Rayla agreed, an amused smile portraying on her lips. “Maybe returning Zym won’t stop the war, but an analogy about Moonberries probably could!”

They both shared a laugh together, just indulging in the moment of having some peace for once between just the two of them, and actually taking a chance to laugh at the series of events they just went through in the span of a few weeks. It was nice to make light of their situation for a change, even though the thought of returning Zym to his mother not ending how they hoped was something that in fact crossed their minds way too often.

Rayla licked the juice off her hand, and pulled out another berry bundle to feed to Zym, who gladly bit down and chewed into the sweet flavor of the fruit without hesitation.

“He may be shivering, but at least the little guy won’t be going hungry,” she said as she pet the fluff consuming his neck while he ate.

It was a very slight noise, but Rayla halted immediately at a disturbance in the quiet around them that she wasn’t familiar with. It was the sound of something very lightly, very carefully brushing against a tree and shaking the leaves. She was already drawing her swords from her back and putting herself into a defensive stance, looking around on high alert.

“W-What’s going on? Did you hear something?” Callum asked, pulling Zym closer to him subconsciously at the impulse of danger arising.

“Shh,” Rayla hushed him. “Something’s here."

She stood on guard for a few passing moments, waiting in silence with her swords at the ready for anything that might want to jump out at them. Zym looked up at Callum with a confused glance, in which Callum just shrugged helplessly in response.

Rayla slowly let her swords fall back to her sides as she stood up straight. “Whatever might’ve been out there must’ve gotten the hint and left.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t a bird or something?” asked Callum, still hugging onto Zym protectively.

“I’m sure. It sounded big, large enough to scrape across bark and leaves,” Rayla answered, running a hand through her hair. “Whatever it was, I think it’s gone now.”

Right at the very end of her sentence, a loud impact sounded behind them, both Callum and Rayla whipping their heads around to look at what they just heard. Within the shadow, a pair of large eyes gleaming with yellow sclera lit up. Another loud crunch in the snow beneath them resounded, and out of the shadow, they could now see a large paw.

As another paw stepped out, next to the piercing golden eyes staring them down in the dark, a new pair of eyes began to glow alongside it, as well as the sound of snarling. Emerging further out of the darkness, and Rayla pulling Callum with the dragon in his arms behind her and drawing her swords again, the sight of not two, but one body came into view. However, adorning two heads, a giant wolf-like entity now stood before them, with indigo fur streaked with white, and the faces of the creature growling and licking their toothy maws.

“An orthrus…” Rayla breathed, eyes wide and holding her stance.

“A what?” Callum could barely manage to say, clutching onto Zym even tighter as he backed away.

The orthrus readied itself into a stance of its own, heads lowering and staring menacingly at its prey. The growling continued, and Rayla stood as still as possible, her swords gripped so tightly in her hands that the skin around them started to turn white.

“Callum,” she whispered. “Take Zym and run.”

“What? No, if you’re expecting me to leave you, I’m not going to do that. We’re in this togeth--” Callum whispered back and put his hand on Rayla’s shoulder, but she shrugged him off and continued.

“Callum,” her voice was hard and stern through gritted teeth, but her eyes flickered over to him behind her for just a brief moment. “I said, take Zym and run.”

Rayla’s eyes spoke more than her words, and Callum could see the desperation, the fear, the terror in her look. It wasn’t a demand, it was a plea. She was beseeching him to escape with Zym and carry out the rest of the mission, no matter what would become of her if he left her behind. It has only been these past few weeks he’s known Rayla, but she’s already become someone he knew he could trust with his life. And it was her trust in him he’d never want to break.

But then, right then, Callum knew. Her trust in him would surely mean nothing if she wouldn’t make it out alive, so he planted his feet further into the snow, holding onto Zym with a determined look. This time, he wasn’t going anywhere. He wasn’t going to let her die alone.

“Callum, please--” Rayla begged, but her attention was drawn away from the orthrus for too long a second.

She could see the paw in the corner of her eye, and it was like time stopped as Rayla reacted. Her instincts kicking in, using what strength she had before the claws were to meet with her flesh, she pushed Callum from behind her, away from the line of the strike as a paw the size of her whole body pinned her into the snow with incredible force.

Callum tumbled into the frigid whiteness below, Zym still hugged tight to his chest. He could hear the small creature whimpering under his chin, but he couldn’t concentrate on him now. Regaining his composure and rising, Callum could barely see Rayla’s horns peeking out from under the orthrus’s paw.

“RAYLA!” he shouted in a panic, his voice echoing off the trees around them.

One of the wolf monstrosity’s heads set its sight onto him, practically foaming at the mouth with a hunger Callum had never seen before. Breathing heavily, the head lunged toward him, baring its teeth for a bite.  
Callum was already drawing out the rune in the air, Zym tucked safely under one arm as he exclaimed “Fulminus!” and the bright electric blue light crackled to life in his free hand. He thrusted his palm forward just in time, releasing the lightning energy straight at the orthrus’s face.

The head lurched back in pain, the energy singeing its fur as it yelped, snapped, and snarled at the agony that was inflicted on it. The other head looked over, distracted enough to be pulled back in by a new source pain cutting into its left paw. The very tip of one of Rayla’s swords was jabbed straight through, and the orthrus reeled off the blade, a viscous black liquid gushing from the wound. The beast winced and snorted, but its eyes regained its fury, and the paw was back on the ground, standing like it hadn’t taken any damage at all.

Rayla staggered upward, clutching her side and heaving. She tried her best to shrug off the pain and hold her swords properly, but the crushing weight of the blow was surely going to leave her with some bruising for a while. She wasted no time, though, and jumped forward at the orthrus’s leg, slashing and hacking into the same one carrying the wound on its paw.

One of the heads groaned, and bent down to take Rayla in its jowls. The young assassin took the opportunity to strike at its face, gashing the upper part of the muzzle close to the eye as deep as she could. More yelping and whining in response made Rayla feel confident, but her blade imbedded so deep into its face turned into her own folly as the head thrashed about, loosening the weapon from the wound, shoving her back into the snow almost 20 feet away.

The wind was knocked out of her lungs as she slammed into the ground, the pain in her back searing. Still trying to keep a grip on her swords, she used them to aid her standing, but her legs buckled underneath her and she fell back to the ground.

Callum didn’t keep his eyes off her, and every part of him screamed to rush to her side, help her up, and get as far away from there as possible, but the loud crunching of snow came from his side as the orthrus lumbered forward, both heads trained on him with rage. He began to draw out another rune as he backed away, but the heel of his foot found its way against a large tree root and he fell backwards, Zym spiraling out of his arm.

He hastily reached for the dragon, but the paw was already coming down and his spell was out of his focus. Zym barreled away in time, but the beast raised its claw again, and Callum felt his heart stop as the orthrus was about to bear down onto the Dragon Prince, their last hope for peace for Xadia and the humans to make amends. Zym saw the giant claw driving down through the air, and cowered in fear, covering his face in his paws.

Callum watched helplessly, too far away to get up and do anything. He laid there on his side, the cold snow dampening his clothes from his warmth. All he could do was watch, horrified.

“Lumen volta!”

Suddenly, a burst of sparkling white light beamed through the forest, straight toward one of the orthrus’s heads. The light blasted into its golden eyes, and the head shrieked and curled back. The claw lost its trajectory and arced somewhere else in the snow, leaving Zym unharmed and very surprised.

The other head glanced in the direction the light came from, only for another beam to its eyes as well, both heads no blinded and hollering in sheer agony.  
Callum took the chance to run over to Zym and cradle him in his arms once more, not wanting to look back at whatever just disabled the monstrosity in case the same would happen to him. He buried his face into Zym’s mane, and Zym’s tiny claws clutched into his coat for comfort as he whined into the fabric, shaking like mad.

The orthrus leapt and pounced about, unable to see or sense where it was going. The pain was too immense to ignore, and the beast ended up sprinting off in a random direction back into the wilderness. Its heavy footfalls became soft thumps in the distance as Callum sat there, shivering and breathing hard. He calmed down, and his thoughts began to come back again.

And he remembered, Rayla.

Just as he turned to look at her, he was met the back of another figure standing over her. He started to stand up, wrapping Zym in his scarf as he worriedly watched from afar.

Rayla’s vision was blurry for a little, the pain disorienting her to the point where she couldn’t focus on anything, but finally clarity comes. Her sight crystalizes, and as she gasped for air, she could sense the shadow looming over her. Craning her head to look at the figure, she finds herself gasping even more.

An elven woman stands there, white pixie-cut hair above stern violet eyes, glaring down at Rayla with intensity. A sleeveless white coat cuts off just above her ankles, and she holds in one hand a now fading white light, and in the other, a long quarterstaff tipped with a large chunk of shimmering crystal.

The light vanished from her hand, and her hardened gaze upon Rayla softened, the hand now extended out to her on the ground. She doesn’t say anything, but her brows are furrowed with concern and she wears a frown of sincerity and comfort across her face.

Rayla reached out and grasped the woman’s hand, and begrudgingly used her help to stand on both feet once more. The aching in her legs proceeded, but Rayla couldn’t care less about any of her physical pain right then than her emotional, as she stared deeply into the woman’s matching violet eyes.

“Hi, Vilya…”


	2. Vilya

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being bruised, battered, and worn from battle, the last thing Rayla needed at this point was to be recognized by anyone; especially by her sister, Vilya.

Rayla grunted as she leaned against the base of a tree, the older elven woman sitting beside her on her knees. Her hands emanated with a soft green light, her eyes glazed over with the same color as she pressed her palms into the various injuries on Rayla’s body. Rayla winced each time her hands pressed into her wounds, but the pain would eventually subside and leave not even but a little ache. 

“Here,” Rayla murmured, gesturing to a now forming bruise around the side of her neck. “This one’s pretty bad.” 

Vilya held her hands over it, and it felt like the pain was being sucked out of Rayla’s body forcefully, which was somehow even more painful in the process. But just like that it vanished, and the blackening skin near her shoulders and back was now back to its healthy pinkish hue. 

“It’s a good thing you learned at least a little bit of healing magic,” Rayla said with a nervous laugh. “I remember how hard you said it was, all that time ago.” 

Vilya didn’t respond, she just continued checking over Rayla’s body for any other visual injuries. Finding none more to cure, the glowing light in her palms faded, and she stood up from beside Rayla. She glanced over her shoulder at the young human and dragon a couple feet away, who had been standing there for the past 5 minutes as she was helping mend Rayla’s wounds. She stared at them with what looked to be, almost, a confused scowl. Her eyes darted back to Rayla who was just now standing up on her own. 

“You have a lot of explaining to do.” was the first and only thing she said since her very arrival. 

“I know I do. And I know this looks really suspicious but Vilya, I promise you--” Rayla began, but Vilya wouldn’t allow her to finish. 

“Word your sentences very carefully, Rayla. A human being within even a foot beyond the border into Xadia is punishable by death.” she sneered. “And considering you haven’t been the one to kill him yet, especially with the path you’ve chosen in life, you must have a reason worthy of keeping him with you.” 

“I do!” Rayla said, but sighed, not wanting to get on the nerves of the woman before her. 

Vilya raised a brow of suspicion, and looked over to Callum and Zym with a chin held high. Callum shrunk under her gaze, and Zym stared back at the Moonshadow lady with a mimicked expression. She would’ve thought it was cute if she wasn’t as angry and uneasy as she was. 

“Okay, so, to make this a lot less difficult than it has to be,” Rayla spoke up again, and moved over to Callum, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Vilya, this is Prince Callum of Katolis, and in his hands is Azymondias--the son of the Dragon Queen. I know that must be very confusing, but I promise I’ll explain in just a minute.” 

Gesturing to Vilya, she continued. “Callum, this is Vilya. She’s...my older sister. I have no idea why she’s here right now and I haven’t seen her in years, but well, she’s here.” 

“Sister?” Callum repeated. 

“Yes, and while this has been  _such_  a pleasant reunion,” Vilya responded, taking a step closer to Callum and Rayla with her arms folded behind her. “Please, do elaborate on the whole dragon situation for me.” 

Callum saw Rayla frown at Vilya’s attitude, but she seemed to ignore it and proceeded. “It’s hard to believe, I get it. I didn’t believe it either until I saw him with my very eyes. Long story short, a mission I was sent on into Katolis to kill the king and his son as vengeance for them killing ours diiiiiidn’t really go as planned. I met Callum and his brother and we found that their High Mage actually stole the egg of the Dragon Prince, we stole it back, Zym almost died but we hatched him, yada yada yada, he’s here now! And that’s what matters! Make sense?” 

Zym chirped up with a smile in Callum’s arms, and Callum gave a shy grin of his own, only way more uncomfortable and timid, not meeting Vilya’s gaze. 

Vilya blinked,  _very_ slowly, and bore her eyes into her younger sister’s. “...Thank you, Rayla...that was very helpful.” 

Rayla’s unconvincing smile was, well, unconvincing. She dropped her face and huffed, running a hand through her hair. “Okay, yeah, I’m not good at explaining. Callum, how about you try?” 

“Wai--wha--me?!” Callum squeaked. 

Rayla promptly gave him an elbow into his ribs, not painful but certainly attention-gathering. “Yes, you, you dummy.” she whispered. “The reason you’re here is to show to the elves and dragons that you wanna make peace with them. This is a good place to start.” 

“Oh, err, right. Yeah.” Callum stood up straighter with false confidence. “S-So, Vilya. I’m Callum--wait she said that already--I mean, you know that I’m...kinda the prince of Katolis, right? Yeah? Yeah. And this dragon here is Zym--well it’s Azymondias, but we call him Zym for short--and he’s the Dragon Prince. Wait she said that already too--err--what I mean is--I’m here today to tell you why I’m returning the Dragon Prince to his mom. You see--” 

Rayla’s face was in her hands, deeply regretting ever allowing him to speak for himself. Vilya’s attention kept changing from the awkward prince fumbling over his words to her sister cringing every time he stuttered and stammered. She looked on at them with pity, and made eye contact with Rayla, mouthing ‘Really?’. 

Rayla shrugged helplessly. ‘Yeah…’ she mouthed back. 

“--And the thing is, Zym  _could_ have died, and we weren’t careful. We’re honestly so unqualified for a journey like this, being so young and all, but the thing is he didn’t! Well, I mean, he most likely would’ve died if I hadn’t broken my primal stone--oh yeah, I had a primal stone by the way--and if I didn’t break it, he’d be dead. I think I just said that already--did I?--anyway--” 

“OKAY!” Rayla exclaimed, slapping her hand over Callum’s mouth. “Enough of...whatever that was. I’m sorry, he’s not great at public speaking, apparently. But, even so, the thing is he’s here to return the Dragon Prince with me, and we’re doing this to prove to Xadia that humans and elves can work together, and we can stop the war that’s being set into motion before it happens.” 

Vilya pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned. “Ughh, Raylaaaa….” 

“What?” she asked. “We’re trying to make peace with the world, isn’t that good? No more people will have to die from this stupid endless cycle of vengeance anymore, it can go back to the simpler times, the way it was years ago.” 

“The way it was  _centuries_  ago.” Vilya protested. “Rayla, this is foolish. Returning this dragonling to the Queen, if he really is the thought-dead prince, won’t make a difference to how Xadia sees humans. And it certainly doesn’t change how I see them, either.” 

“What do you mean? Humans are absolutely different than how we perceive them to be! Zym would be dead if it weren’t for Callum. He sacrificed a rare and ancient magical stone to hatch him!” Rayla argued. 

“Yes,  _he_  did. One human did one thing for one creature. I’m as sure as the blood flowing in my body that almost the rest of them wouldn’t do the same. Humans are selfish, incompetent people with no consideration for anyone but themselves. You may have gotten lucky and found one who knows generosity, but that isn’t going to change the fact that humans went against their own nature to create a magic that takes the lives of others with natural power. It’s an abomination against us, and even if we make peace with them, do you think they’ll just stop?” 

Rayla’s mouth was left slightly agape, but she shut it and bowed her head, looking at her feet. She stared at the ground and sighed, a part of her knowing that Vilya wasn’t wrong. It had always been a worry that returning Zym didn’t mean the elves and humans would like each other again, and hearing it from someone else--especially the last person she’d thought she’d ever see--really made her heart sink. 

But she looked back up at Vilya with determination. “No, I don’t think they will. But the blood you’re so sure about is the same blood running in my veins too, ‘case you forgot. And what I’m sure of is that returning the little one back to his mother will make a difference, however big or small it may be. There could be a way to rid the world of dark magic, there could be a way where there’s nothing to hate in humans anymore, but I know it won’t all happen instantly.” 

She points a finger into Vilya’s chest, “But we’re here to start that change, and if you can’t get behind it then you’ll stay behind it where you belong. But you won’t stop us from trying.” 

Vilya stands still, motionless, unfazed by every word Rayla uttered. But her expression shifts, and a smile was worn. She placed her hand over her sister’s on her chest and said softly, “I’m glad to know you’re still like Father, Rayla.” 

Rayla didn’t return the smile, but didn’t take her eyes off Vilya. She kept that determination and responded. “I mean it, you know.” 

“Oh, I know quite well that you do. And I’m not going to try and intervene.” Vilya’s smile didn’t fade. “You got your stubbornness from him. And we both know we couldn’t ever change Dad’s mind.” 

“So, what do you want?” asked the younger Moonshadow elf, folding her arms over her chest. “I don’t think you’re gonna want to be involved with this mess we’ve gotten ourselves into.” 

“And you’d be right,” Vilya agreed. “But what I want even less is your friends to die before you even get anywhere.” 

She pointed to Callum and Zym, who seemed to have settled back into the chilled icy air of the Moonbrush, shivering and shaking in their stance. 

“Oh gosh,” Rayla said as she noticed. “I completely forgot how cold it is, I’m so sorry, we should be getting back on track!” 

“S’f-fine,” Callum grinned weakly. “I-I-It’s n-not  _t-t-that_ cold.” 

Zym sneezed, the sound slightly muffled under Callum’s scarf. 

“Oh no, is he getting sick?” Rayla placed a hand over her mouth in worry. 

“I-I’m sure he’s g-g-gonna be okay,” Callum replied. 

“Since they don’t seem too fond of our current circumstance,” Vilya said. “You should come with me. I can at least get you somewhere warmer than the middle of the forest.” 

“Thank you, Vi, but I know a faster route that will lead us to the Dragon Queen. If we go further into the Moonbrush I’ll lose track of our path.” Rayla stated. 

“That won’t matter if your friends freeze to death. Just follow me and be quiet so you don’t run into more scary monsters.” She insisted, already turning her heel and trotting back into the forest where she came from. 

Rayla sighed and ushered Callum along. “Better to do as she says than let you two turn into ice cubes.” 

**_______________ ** 

A good half hour of walking and trailing behind Vilya (Callum still had a hard time maneuvering through the snow, but Rayla helped tug him along) the endless sheet of white burying their feet turned out to not be endless, and they now stood on soft, bluish-green grass. The trees around them were still crowded and thick, and the canopy overhead had little to no breaks of light, but the interesting staff Vilya carried glowed in the darkness, lighting the way as she led them through. 

As they walked, when Callum was feeling warm enough to the point where he could feel his fingers again, he leaned over to Rayla and spoke softly. “I know this probably isn’t a good time, and I hope this isn’t insensitive of me to ask, but, what’s the deal with your sister?” 

“What do you mean?” Rayla matched his hushed tone, asking. 

“Well, she just seems really stern and distant. Plus, she hasn’t even said where she’s taking us. Don’t you think that’s a little sketchy?” Callum pointed out, eyes shifting to the Moonshadow elf ahead of them. 

Rayla nodded, “Yeah, I kinda think so. But I trust her, enough to where I know she’s not leading us to our impending doom.” 

Callum bit his lip. “I know, I know. And, she’s your sister and all but...are you sure? Like,  _sure_ -sure? Because, not gonna lie, she scares me.” 

Rayla held back a laugh. “She’s mean, but she’s not evil, Callum. And she didn’t used to be this way. At least, not the last time I saw her.” 

A look in Callum’s eyes told Rayla that he was curious to know more about their past and their relationship, and Rayla put a hand on his shoulder with a reassuring smile. “I tell you everything when we have time, but right now we don’t. Later, okay?” 

Callum put his hand on top of Rayla’s and nodded. “Yeah, later.” 

“Hurry up you two,” Vilya called from ahead of them. “Don’t fall behind so much or I might consider just leaving you.” 

Callum gulped nervously, and Rayla squeezed his shoulder tighter. “I’m sure.” 

It was when the trees got even wider and taller that Vilya stopped, and turned back to face the two teens and their dragon. Callum and Rayla halted, looked to each other before Vilya, and Rayla asked, “Everything alright?” 

“Yes, but no.” Vilya said. She looked to Callum, “We’re right outside Lunumbra, and we’ve still got him to deal with.” 

“Lunumbra?” Rayla scoffed. “Vi, I told you we were on our own path! This is the last place I wanted to go right now!” 

Vilya sucked in a breath and glared down at her sister. “Rayla, I understand your concern, but please--shut up and let me do something for you, for once.” 

Rayla huffed, shutting her mouth and looking away like a pouty child. 

Satisfied with her younger sibling’s silence, Vilya turned back to Callum. “You.” 

“It’s Callum.” 

“I’m  _quite_  aware. But the thing is we don’t want other people to be. Do you have anything with you that might be good at obscuring yourself?” she asked. 

Callum pondered for a moment, but Rayla rolled her eyes and took Zym from his hands. “Yes, we do.” Setting the dragonling on the ground, she grabbed at Callum’s bag and started rummaging through it. 

“Hey, wait a sec--” Callum tried to protest, but Rayla had already grabbed ahold of what she was looking for, and pulled the cloak they had (thankfully) brought with them out. 

“Is that all?” Vilya questioned. 

“Yeah, but trust me, Vi, this thing can do wonders for disguises.” Rayla gave her a smug grin and a wink. 

She threw the cloak around Callum’s shoulders, affixing the clasp together, and pulled up the hood. Looking Callum over, she smiled and showed Vilya with pride. “See?” 

“How do I look?” Callum asked, fumbling around in the cloak and adjusting it in certain places. 

“You look fine,” Vilya answered. “Juuuuust not like an elf.” 

The optimism that was just brightening onto Callum’s face fell instantly. Rayla pat him on the back. “Well, it was worth a shot.” 

“It’s not  _bad_ ,” Vilya added. “It’s just too obvious that it’s human attire. Especially compared to the way us Moonshadow elves dress, it doesn’t blend in with our culture enough.” 

She rubbed her chin with a finger, thinking. A few seconds later, she perked up and let her fingers snap. “I got it. Give me the cloak.” 

Callum tugged it off and handed it to her, and Vilya folded it up as she talked. “I know a spell that can alter the appearance of inanimate objects. I know one that can change whole appearances, too, but in this case that won’t do us much good. Moonshadow elves can keenly see through illusions and facades, but changing something as simple as this cloak will be much easier to blend in with. They won’t notice anything if they’re not actively looking for it.” 

Folded cloak in hand, she took the staff she had an began saying an incantation under her breath.  _“_ _Celare_ _verras_ _.”_  

The cloak rippled and shimmered, a deep blue color washing over the blackness and setting into the fabric. She fanned out the item, its appearance now changed entirely. However, once she threw it back onto Callum, the same texture and feeling of the cloak before remained. 

“The feeling of it won’t change,” she said as she flicked the hood over his head. “And some added details to it, like the shape of this clasp, won’t feel like it’s how it looks. So that being said, don’t let anyone touch it.” 

“Got it.” Callum nodded understandingly. Zym chirped at his feet with a bright face, jumping up to try and nibble at the edge of the cape. 

Rayla chuckled and picked the little one up before he could actually chew through anything, and felt Vilya’s attention on her. Looking toward her sister with lowered brows and fading cheeriness, she held Zym in one arm and put the other hand on her hip. “So, are we good to go? Y’know, to go into Lunumbra for who knows what since you won’t tell us anything, because you’re being  _such_  a help to us right now?” 

Vilya’s grip on her staff tightened, and her expression faltered, looking almost identical to Rayla’s. “I know you’re not happy to see me right now, trust me, the feeling is mutual. But when I found you, I wasn’t going to just let you walk those injuries off. And I wasn’t going to let your friends get frostbite in the confusing maze of a forest that is the Moonbrush. All I’m asking for right now is your patience and your respect.” 

“You’re gonna have to give us some answers, then.” Rayla said. 

Vilya closed her eyes and bit her lip, breathing in deeply. Her grip was tightened around that staff so much so that her hand was visibly shaking, and all of a sudden, the motion seized. She slung her staff onto her back with a sash along her torso, and folded her arms over her chest.  

_“Fine,”_  she practically hissed, her voice like venom with each word. “What do you so desperately want to know until we can get somewhere safer where we won’t be heard?” 

“Somewhere...safer?” Callum cocked his head to the side and asked. “What’s not safe about being out here?” 

“Well, many things aren’t safe about the Moonbrush, and whilst this is a relatively warmer area, and further from the thicket of the woods, that doesn’t mean there aren’t other dangers out here. You never know who or what might be listening.” she explained. 

“Can you give us any examples?” Callum inquired. 

“People often do perimeter checks and keep guard on the city,” Vilya answered. “Some go as much to venture into the forest for outsiders, travelers, etcetera. Staying out here answering all these questions gives us a greater chance to be spotted than in the city, to your surprise maybe. The less attention we draw to ourselves in there, we’ll be getting to a place much safer and calmer to discuss. Being out here is leaving ourselves vulnerable to perception.” 

“Ah,” Callum nodded. “That’s fair. But just…one more question before we go?” 

Vilya sighed, rubbing the side of her face with weariness. “One more. Make it quick.” 

“How did you even find us out here in the Moonbrush in the first place?” 

Vilya stopped for a moment and looked down at him, Callum now noticing a sort of genuinity in her eyes he hadn’t seen before, an earnest look that made her seem...grateful, in a sense. “I was out in the forest gathering some natural ingredients for spell components, I’ve been spending my time working on a certain ritual for a certain event I have coming up. As I was searching, I heard what sounded like the beginning of a scuffle and growling, and I would’ve just ignored it; if I hadn’t heard you shout Rayla’s name. Part of me felt like it might’ve just been a coincidence, someone with the same name perhaps. But another part of me just wouldn’t let it go, and the thought of my baby sister being out there and getting hurt didn’t sit right with me, so I had to go see for myself. I’m glad I did.” 

Vilya’s lips tugged upwards in a very sorrowful-looking smile, and while she didn’t look Callum directly in the eye, she nodded with a hand over her heart. “So thank you, I suppose. For at least being there and assuring that she wouldn’t die.” 

“O-Oh, well, no problem!” Callum awkwardly chuckled. “I wouldn’t want her to die, too.” 

“Can we stop talking about me like I’m not here?” Raya chimed in. “Weren’t you saying something about not wanting to ‘waste time’?” 

“You’re right,” Vilya said. “Let’s get a move on. All your other questions and concerns have to wait, but I promise you all they’ll be answered in given time.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Rayla rolled her eyes and followed on behind Vilya once more. She murmured to herself just coherently enough to reach Callum’s ears. “I wasn’t gonna die, drama queen.” 

**________________________ ** 

 

Xadia wasn’t anything like Callum had read or been told in all his youth. It was so much  _better_. 

Xadia wasn’t necessarily described as a horrible place, many tales and stories he’d grown up with gave the lasting impression that it was indeed beautiful and thriving with life and magic. But, seeing it in person, he had so many more words to describe it than just beautiful. 

The Moonbrush’s vast canopy still hung over the city like a dome, however light was not scarce. As not only did every establishment and abode contain lanterns of various colors affixed to their walls, and gorgeously crafted lamposts have stained glass containing their light source, small creatures fluttered about in the air; almost like fireflies that constantly changed hue from yellows, to pinks, to blues. 

The streets were mostly paths etched into the earth, but now and then certain white stones would appear in the roads much like cobblestone, and would give way to sidewalks into other places. The places themselves were an experience alone--elven culture truly shining through as Callum looked on at the variety. 

Most structures were on ground-level, being shops, inns, general community. But all seemed to be made of natural growing bark-- teal in color and smooth in texture, much like the trees in the forest--that curled and wove into itself to create these dwellings. The roofs were often made of a much browner, finely cut wood, that spiraled into these intricate cone shapes, and the edges were extended to harbor pillars of marble supporting them. 

Other structures like these were also much higher--located all throughout the city were some of the largest trees he had ever seen, and a series of handmade bridges and support beams were crafted from the branches, and these structures were built into the plantlife. These seemed to be much humbler and smaller, mostly houses and living-quarters. As they passed by some of these trees as they made their way through the city, he noticed some branches had long silks tied to them, draping down all the way to the ground. He watched as a Moonshadow elf high up on one of these trees leapt down onto one of these silks and slid all the way down, and carried on into the liveliness of the city so casually. 

Other small markets and vendors crowded the streets too, business bustled and various shouts and calls echoed in the streets of people buying and selling whatever variety they had. Some patrons strolling along, much like they were, didn’t look to just be Moonshadow elves, though. Callum saw a couple walking hand-in-hand a little way away, one baring darker skin with golden marking swirling across their arms and face, and long, fiery red hair flowing down to the center of their back. The other had much lighter skin, and short platinum blonde hair, and horns that looked like antlers made of bark, little leaves even budding from them. They were out of sight in just a second, but there were still many people like this they could see as they went. 

Everything about how upbeat and effervescent this city was, the brightness and the people, it all made Callum wonder how Moonshadow elves were given the reputation they had amongst his kingdom in the first place. If he walked into this city with his eyes closed and had nothing but his other senses to rely on, he wouldn’t have noticed any difference of this than a regular human city. He couldn’t contain that joyous smile he knew was showing too obviously, but he just couldn’t help it. 

His eyes wandering around the city, they eventually found their way into Rayla’s, who he now noticed had been staring at him for a little while. “What?” 

“Nothing, you just seem a whole lot happier than I thought you’d be.” she answered. “Enjoying the sight-seeing?” 

“Yeah,” he breathed in awe, eyes glancing back at the little light creatures flowing in the air. “It’s so much different than I thought it’d be. Are all the elven cities like this?” 

“Some are, others differ depending on cultural practices, region, and stuff. But for the most part this place is pretty busy and brimming with folk who just go about their day like usual.” Rayla went on to explain, her own smile growing wider as she spoke. 

Callum was really enjoying listening to her talk about Lunumbra, seeing a passion in her that he hadn’t seen before, it made him want to just sneak away from Vilya for a while with her and go see the rest of the city for themselves. But when a hand clamped down onto his shoulder, he looked up to see the older sister herself glaring at him. 

“I know it’s nice here, but control yourself.” Vilya said. “Don’t make it so obvious that you’re new here, or people are going to notice.” 

Callum swallowed down that excitement he had and put on a more serious face, though he knew he grew paler just by Vilya’s intimidating presence. He assumed it must run in the family. 

They stopped at one of the big trees, the ones that led into the plexus of Moonshadow dwellings above. A small rope ladder stemmed all the way down from one of the highest branches into the leaves of the tree, making the top of it almost invisible. Vilya, still standing behind the teens, gestured in front of them. “After you.” 

Callum looked to Rayla, who just nodded reassuringly. She was the first to go up the ladder, and Vilya still stood tall and adamant behind him, which could only mean he was to go next. Following after Rayla—who, is a lot faster at climbing than he suspected—he took each rope in hand and ascended, and heard Vilya approach behind him not long after. 

What felt like a good five minutes of climbing up this ladder, Callum could no longer see Rayla’s figure from the size of the branch the ladder was tied to, as she had already reached the top without them. As he was nearing the end of all this climbing, Callum felt his footing on one of ropes slip, and he nearly lost his balance on the ladder entirely. Thankfully, though, since she was close enough from under him and knew too well how this would go, Vilya caught his foot mid-slip, which allowed Callum to regain his grip on the ropes. 

He looked down at the Moonshadow elf to thank her, only to be met with a peeved look and an icy, “Keep going.” 

He decided he’d thank her later. 

Callum and Vilya reached the top of the branch, and were immediately greeted by an impatient Rayla. “Jeez, what took you so long?” she said. “Can we please hurry this up as fast as possible? I don’t want to stay here any longer than we have to.” 

Callum was about to respond, but was abruptly cut off by a faint sneeze jolting from inside his bag. He and Rayla exchanged a look of concern, Vilya as well looking at the bag with a feeling of apprehension. All mentally agreeing treading along is the best, they quickened their paces into a brisk walk. They journeyed into the plexus that was the neighborhood of the treetops; other Moonshadow elves coming and going with family, friends, groceries, and all sorts of things at their sides. Rounding a particularly curved branch, the long limb of this tree led up into an abode quite smaller than the rest. Similar in structure and creation to the others, however this appeared to be one that wasn’t a recommended living space for more than a few people. 

Giving a confused glance, Vilya read his expression and responded with a condescending smirk. “Well? What were you expecting, Princey?” 

Practically choking on his words, Callum kept his mouth shut and eyes averted. Vilya wanted to laugh, but a slap to her arm from her younger sister told her not to, against her own desires. 

“Anyway,” Vilya shrugged off the situation best she could and tried shifting the mood. “Welcome to my home. This is where I’ve been staying for the past 2 or 3 years, nothing special. Get comfy, I guess.” 

She opened the door, and the interior was revealed to the teens. It wasn’t anything special by any means, but it was certainly cozy. A fireplace was still going, contained by a little woven gate of metal. Inside was hanging a type of cauldron, a little bit of steam wafting out of the lip of the bowl. In front of the place was a living space, two couches made of this lavish, velvet-like material and seemed much too cushion-y than most couches they’d ever seen, but comfortable nonetheless. Between those was a narrow table, and almost any space on it was completely cluttered with various objects. Seeds, jewels, books, and random trinkets of all sorts. Nothing like this covered the floor, but this presence of chaos still remained. In other things like bookcases, wall shelves, desks, you name it. There was a little bit of a hallway—an alcove more or less—with two doors on either side visible, but that was all there really was to this home. 

Vilya shrugged her staff off its sash, and leaned it against the wall near the door, and headed straight into a room in the alcove. The door shut behind her...and that was that. She was gone as soon as she entered, and Callum and Rayla were left to their own devices for the time being. 

They shared in an awkward silence, Rayla shut the front door behind them, but no conversation really arose as they were taking in their circumstances. However, another sneeze from Callum’s bag snapped them back to reality, and left a guilt hanging over their consciences as they took out the poor dragonling from the discomfort of that bag. 

“If he really is getting sick, put him near the fire.” Rayla stated. “While it’s not as cold as that forest, it’s not good for a baby regardless.” 

Callum nodded and gave a noise of agreement, putting Zym down close to the fireplace and wrapping him up in his scarf for safe measure. Now sat before them the future King of Dragons, bundled up like a ball of yarn with only the bit of his muzzle sticking out. Rayla wanted to fix his funny appearance, but the satisfied yawn that came from Zym was telling enough that he was okay with this. 

Callum removed his sketchbook from himself and sat down on one of the couches. He let himself sink into the plush fabric and sighed, this was quite honestly the first time they got a chance to rest after all the walking they had done today, and  _man_ did not using his legs feel good. 

Rayla plopped down beside him with her own relieved noise, running a hand through her hair and letting herself think for a bit. 

The two didn’t say much for a little while, and were content with just the sound of the fire crackling and their own breathing as they waited for Vilya to return (gods know when). But a memory popped into Callum’s mind, and he turned to Rayla, brimming with curiosity. 

“So, Rayla,” he said, hunching over and propping an elbow on his knee, to rest his chin in palm. “I know it’s later, but is now still a bad time?” 

Rayla quirked a brow, until she realized what he meant. She shook her head and simply giggled. “Hah, I’d have to give you a maybe on that. I don’t really know what Vi’s up to right about now, but I think it’s best to just give her some space. Let her blow off steam, or something.” 

“You still call her ‘Vi’, like how I call Ezran ‘Ez’. But she still seems so distant and abrasive. I’m sorry if this brings up anything bad for you, and if it does, I promise I won’t pry any further. But is everything okay between you two?” Callum put his hand atop Rayla’s, and stared into her eyes with genuine sympathy, which Rayla couldn’t hide a smile from. 

“Thanks. That’s very kind of you, but I think I’m ready. Ready enough for this, anyway.” She said. Taking a deep breath, she continued. “Well, our relationship—she and I—is...it’s certainly better than the one I have with my parents.” 

Sighing, her gaze shifted longingly toward the fireplace beside them. “I guess, I’ll have to start back from earliest I can remember.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aYYEEE!! see i told you i'd get this out soon enough. glad to see some people are already liking this story, that makes me happy! i'll get on to the next chapters as soon as i can, so hang in there for the next one! also; meet Vilya! A blunt and brooding Moon mage, who just so happens to be Rayla's older sister. I really liked the idea of Rayla having a sibling, because we haven't really seen any sisterly relationships in the show--besides Amaya and Sarai, but we didn't really get to know much about them as a whole cause Sarai is kinda...dead. And I just like the idea of all the main adolescent characters having siblings, and I really wanted to go for a dynamic of what it's like to have a sibling much older than you (because I have one of those in real life) and how the age difference affects your closeness and bond and time you spend together. And with Rayla's resentment to her parents, I thought this would be a neat little idea to go on and I really like the concept that I came up with. But if you don't, that's coolio, buuuut Vilya's gonna be an important character, so don't expect her to be written off any time soon. Anyhow it's almost 2am, i need sleep, and i will see y'all in chapter 3. (also, side note, i still have noooo idea how to work ao3 so im so soz if anything gets posted prematurely or there's some sort of errors technologically with the fic. it's most likely my fault :P) byeeee! -Gigi


	3. The Evenfalls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla recollects her past with Vilya, and though she'd rather be stuck with literally anyone else at the moment, she attempts to make things a little less awkward between them.

They decided to only stay in that small village a day longer. Claudia knew Soren was much better than he was before when he was as stiff as a rock on that hospital bed, but that didn’t mean his wounds were all mended and his limp would only last a few minutes. So, after removing him from the medical center (much to all its patrons’ relief), they found one of the inns in town that was the least charred from the recent dragon incident and stayed for the rest of the day, planning to leave in the morning tomorrow. 

Claudia had a separate room from her brother, but every now and then throughout the day she’d come in and checkup, mainly to give him food, make sure he’s resting easy, just caring for his wellbeing. A spell like that really planted a seed of guilt in the pit of her stomach, and knowing what she did to that deer brought her so much pain to even think about it. But she didn’t regret it; she knew in her heart and mind she would do it a million times again just to save her brother from a terrible fate like that--or one much worse, if it were to ever come to it. 

She was leaned against the wall in his room at the moment, and Soren was sound asleep in his bed, his obnoxious snoring ever  present . But Claudia couldn’t say she minded all that much, she was just glad he was okay, and he was still here with her. 

Her hand found her way into her satchel, she was thinking so much about the battle with that dragon the other day that she subconsciously pulled out the horn she had managed to acquire, and she studied it with great interest. 

Claudia didn’t know a whole lot about dragons. Her father taught her many things about them, but she didn’t really know the differences between them. Sure, she knew Storm Dragons were Storm Dragons because they could shoot lightning from their mouths, and Fire Dragons were Fire Dragons because they could, well, breathe fire. But she didn’t know what made their magic so special. Was that all they could do? Did they have intelligent thoughts? Could they even speak? Were they just monstrosities, or were they actually animals?

 

She hated dragons, especially after that one from the night before burned the village and left Soren immobile for what could’ve been permanently. And her dad always explained them to be vain, selfish, and cruel beasts of immense power and size, some of the fiercest tyrants to hail from  Xadia . She believed him wholeheartedly, but she could never really place her reasons for her feelings of doubt. Her curious mind wondered just what exactly made dragons so powerful other than their sharp claws, pointy teeth, and magic breath. Even more so, what other connections of magic did they have, if the Dragon King hoarded that mirror in his domain? 

Rubbing her fingers over the edges and tips of the horn, she inspected it thoroughly, though it didn’t really do much good to her to figure out anything, just like the other two times she’d looked at it that day. She sighed, and placed the horn in the bag yet again. Dad would know what to do with it for sure, she was just worried what mood he’ll be in when he finds out that they failed him. 

A lock of her hair fell in her face as she stared down at the floor, and she tried blowing it away, but it only brushed back on her skin. Just as she was going to swipe it behind her ear, she noticed something. She hadn’t seen this before, to her surprise, but it wasn’t the normal raven-black color of her hair. It was pure white, all the way to the ends and up to her root. 

Claudia moved to the dresser at the other side of the room, looking in the mirror affixed to the wall. Sure enough, there was a prominent white streak running down the left side of her hair. Her eyebrows quirked in concern, and she fiddled with the strand of hair in between her fingers. Twirling it, combing it, even biting just to see what would happen, but, nothing did. It was like this was a completely normal part of her appearance, and that thought worried her. 

She had an idea to what this might be, and it certainly wasn’t anything dangerous to her knowledge, but she’d seen her dad get white streaks like these before after using certain spells. He’d always just said it was no big deal and it just happens when you overuse your magic too much, and Claudia inferred that the spell she used to fix Soren might’ve had this effect. While it was relieving that this wasn’t anything serious, the downside was that her dad never told her how he fixed it. The next time she saw him, he’d be back to normal and everything was right and dandy. 

_ Maybe it’ll just go away with time? _  She thought to herself. 

She couldn’t help but frown at herself in the mirror, though. This streak was totally killing her color palette. 

The sound of Soren jolting  awake  from his own snoring made Claudia jump, but also start giggling as she walked over to her stirring brother’s bedside. 

“Ugh, it happened again,” Soren groaned as he rubbed his eyes. 

“You really  gotta  find a way to fix that, I think I’ve run myself dry of helping you.” Claudia laughed. “How’re you feeling?” 

“Better,” he said, trying to sit up but the aching pain in his ribs made it difficult. “But certainly not great.” 

“Well I’m glad the rest is doing you some good, at least.” Claudia smiled and spoke. 

Soren was going to return her caring and genuine expression, but he now noticed Claudia’s hair, too. He furrowed his brows in confusion and pointed at the now very prominent streak. “Hey uh,  Clauds ? You got like, a thingy. A  lil  thingy right there in your hair. Did you get it dyed again?” 

“Huh?” she muttered, but her brain switched back on and she understood what he meant. “Oh, yeah, this thingy. No, I didn’t get it dyed, I  dunno  when it happened but I think I got this when I fixed you. I’m not sure how to get rid of it.” 

Soren leaned forward and put a hand on his chin, and took the lock of hair in his other. He thumbed up and down and stared curiously. “Is it like, dangerous? What if...doing that spell took years off your life and now you’re aging faster into your own impending doom?!” 

Claudia blinked. “No, Soren. I don’t think that’s it.” 

She yanked her hair out of his grasp and brushed the streak out of her face behind her ear. “Haven’t you ever seen Dad have streaks like these before? I’ve seen them sometimes. I think maybe I put too much power into that spell and it gave me this.” 

“Hmm, plausible theory,” Soren nodded. “ Buuuuut  I think mine makes more sense.” 

“Ugh, just go back to sleep Soren.” 

And he did so. Claudia went back to her own room for the evening and spent some of the night just staring up at the ceiling in thought. Soren was a goof, and there’s only a 0.01% chance that his blatant guesses could ever be right, but some sort of paranoia she had kept her lingering on the thought of,  _ what if he’s right? What if I’m dying and I don’t even know it? _

Eventually, she turned over on her side and pushed out these horrible ‘what ifs’ and allowed herself to sleep. But she couldn’t shake the uneasiness. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t. It seemed this streak will be plaguing her mind for a little while. 

The morning rolled around and so did Claudia, right out of her bed. She had been tossing and turning all night, and once the sun peeked through her window, she managed to topple off the bed and onto the cold hard floor, still tangled in her blanket. She groaned and rubbed her side, shifting uncomfortably from the bed sheets and wobbled into a stand. What a great way to start the morning. 

After waking Soren, getting breakfast, and ignoring the mild aching still in her side, the siblings left the inn and made their way through town to leave. Soren’s limp was lightening up, he didn’t need the crutch anymore, but he still braced himself on his sister for the time being. They looked throughout town to find any public stables where they could rent some horses, however they were coming up short so far, even with asking other townsfolk about. 

“Claudia, I think all the horses might be dead.” Soren said as they walked. 

“That’s silly. There’s no way they could  _ all _  be dead. Horses are fast, strong, and noble steeds. There has to be at least some of them, if not another type of animal we can use.” Claudia answered, her eyes scanning the town that was still hard at work rebuilding itself. 

“Another animal?” Soren huffed in amusement. “What other animals are there to ride than horses?” 

“I don’t know, I mean, I saw  Ezran  riding into town on a  banther  the other day.” 

“I’m sorry he rode a  _ what now?” _

Claudia laughed at Soren’s hilarious reaction, sighing and shaking her head, she  pat  his shoulder with a smile. “Oh, nothing you need to worry about.” 

An interesting sound caught their attention, all of a sudden. The sound of music, specifically. While they didn’t stay in this town for all that long of a time, they hadn’t recalled the village having a whole lot of liveliness, enough to the point of street performers. The sound was close, and as they looked to each other firsts, the siblings’ brains connected to an agreement, and they followed the sound of the cheery music being played. 

Turning around a corner, they see a small crowd gathered around what looks to be a troupe of performers on a slightly raised platform of wood hastily put together. There was a fancy looking purple hat at the forefront, continuing to be filled with tips of coin and small trinkets. As they played, the joyous looks on the audience’s faces felt refreshing to see. After all that happened in the last few days, the townspeople seemed to keep quiet and lonesome. Seeing some happiness again felt good, and so Soren and Claudia decided to join the crowd and take a listen to the band. 

Nearing the makeshift stage, and being able to see the performers clearly now, they take in each instrumentalist. An older woman played the flute, it was a very upbeat and quick song, but her fingers flew across every note with ease. A large, rotund man played a set of drums, being quite the backbone for the song as a whole. A man and a woman, what looked to be twins, played the same pattern together, one on a bass and the other on a harp. And at the center of the stage was a young girl; around Soren and Claudia’s age, playing the fiddle. Rather lithe and svelte, as her hands strummed and played the instrument, her legs were spinning and dancing all the while. She never missed a beat, never missed a step, and she danced around with grace and passion until the very end of the song. Once the final note was played, and everyone took a breath of air, the audience applauded and cheered, and the tip  hat  was up to the brim with coin. 

“Thank you, thank you!” the older flutist woman said to the gathered crowd. “We very much appreciate all your generous donations, and may the reconstruction of this town turn out well. Good day to you all!” 

As the excitement died down and people began to disperse back into their everyday lives, Claudia turned to her brother. “Man, I feel bad we don’t really have anything to tip them with. Their performance was so good.” 

“Why thank you,” a voice came from behind them, and the siblings turned in unison to see the fiddle player standing there with a kind smile. “Glad we could cheer up you folk at times like these. Your village didn’t deserve the kind of travesty of a dragon attack.” 

“Oh, no we don’t live around he--” Claudia was about to explain, but Soren stepped in front of her, cutting her off mid-sentence. 

“Hello there, violin lady. Excuse my dear, foolish sister, we’re new in town and were just on our way back to the kingdom of  Katolis . You see, I’m the  crownguard , and I’m  kinda  a big deal,” he spoke in a smooth tone, very unconvincingly yawning as an excuse to flex his still slightly sore biceps. “The name’s Soren, but you can call me  _ the man of your dreams _ .” 

He tried to wink, but his eye was already swollen to the point where it wasn’t very effective. Claudia rolled her eyes and pretended to gag from behind him. The fiddle player laughed, her short ginger pigtails bouncing with the rising and falling of her shoulders. 

“Well then, Soren, I can’t say I’m flattered that you think my dreams must be  _ this  _ disappointing.” She jested while looking him over, grinning again when she saw his confident display falter. “You can certainly try that approach again, but if you must, I prefer ‘fiddle lady’.” 

“Oh--yes—well I, uhm,” Soren was at a loss for words, fumbling over them as he tried to regain his composure. It was now his ego that was starting to feel more bruised than his body. 

Claudia shoved the flustered  crownguard  out of the way and held out a hand to the girl. “I’m so sorry about him, that dragon must’ve knocked a few braincells out of him during the fight. My name is Claudia, what’s yours?” 

She took Claudia’s hand without hesitation, shaking it promptly. “Nice to meet you, Claudia. I’m Penny.” 

The two girls smiled at each other, and Soren had built his confidence back up enough to rejoin the conversation. “And uh, yeah. I’m Soren.” 

“ Mhmm .” 

Penny still stared at Soren with a very entertained look, but the silence that followed didn’t make him feel any more comfortable than he was before. Clearing his throat, he stood up straighter and held out his own hand to her. 

“Sorry about that, Miss Penny. One of my worst fears is coming off as a jerk to people I don’t want to be a jerk to, especially to people like you who didn’t even do anything. That’s also a very nice...f... _ fi- _ _ hih _ _ - _ _ duhl _ __ you have?” 

Penny snort-laughed, clutching her stomach with one hand, the grip on her instrument in the other. “Yes, it’s called a fiddle. It’s okay, you’re learning.” 

“So, Penny, as I was saying, my brother and I aren’t exactly from around here. We live centrally in  Katolis , our father is the High Mage, and was the King’s closest advisor before his eventual demise.” Claudia explained. 

“Ah, yes, I heard of his passing. It’s a shame, really. I may not be from  Katolis  myself but the fall of a king is surely heavy on his people.” Penny bowed her head in sympathy. 

“Yeah. But we were sent out from  Katolis  by our father for...reasons, and we’re on our way back to the kingdom now. But we’re having some troubling locating the nearest stables, do you happen to know where we can find one?” asked Claudia. 

“I sure do. I can take you there—fun fact, I’m on my way to  Katolis  as well.” Penny answered. “My uncle was stationed there when word got out that the princes went missing, but I haven’t heard from him since before he left. I’ve been travelling around with my troupe the past few weeks, and I’ve let them know I’d be parting soon, but I never really knew when was the right time.” 

“Well you know what that means,” Soren said enthusiastically. “You get to join  Katolis’s  most professional  mage  and knight on the journey back home.” 

“Oh really? And where might I find them?” 

Soren’s confidence was immediately struck down again, and Claudia burst out laughing, not even caring that the insult was partially directed at her as well.  

Soren cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. “W-Well, I mean, it’s us, but don’t you go underestimating. I am trained and skilled with the way of the swords and Claudia is a master at magic stuff, which is  kinda  cool I guess, but most importantly I’m  _ really _  cool.” 

Penny sighed and shook her head. “Alright then. If you guys are so cool, how about you just follow me to the stables?” 

** _______________ **

“ Vilya  was seven when I was born. Already she had known so much more about the world and people than I did, I was just a baby. She knew more about our parents. From what I’ve been told growing up, once our mother was pregnant with her, both of our parents took leave from their positions in the Dragon Guard for a while to be able to raise their child. And they did, and they loved  Vilya . I don’t doubt that they cared for her and treated her well, but it’s just like it seemed to fall apart when I was born. 

“I don’t think I was planned. I might’ve just been an accident or a surprise, who knows really. They still took care of us even after my birth, but then something happened. The King of the Dragons; Thunder, as you humans have named him, he was fending off the border from humans who were spotted past the breach, and when he returned to his lair, he was badly wounded and vulnerable. The Guard needed everyone on its side, and that included our parents. They didn’t just abandon us, though, before they left to go back to their duties as the King and Queen’s guardians, they left us in the care of a close friend of theirs. His name was  Runaan . 

“ Runaan  wasn’t a bad person, in fact he was one of the people I was closest to for a long while. He practically raised us for most of our lives since our parents never came back to visit all that often. He was...parental-figure adjacent, so to say, but he kept his distance a lot. We weren’t his kids and he wasn’t our father, and we all wanted to keep it that way. He was our teacher for almost everything, and when the time came, he trained us in the ways of the assassins. 

“ Runaan  was  apart  of  Lunumbra’s  official guild for assassins, known as the  Quietkeep . He was highly respected amongst its people, and when he considered us ready, he told us that it was always one of our parents’ wishes for us to follow in their footsteps and join this guild, as they once had been in before. I was only six, and  Vilya  was thirteen, but our adolescence didn’t hold us back from training relentlessly. 

“Everything was fine, for a couple of years. It was a hard position to grow up in, but I managed best I could. After all, I had  Vilya . Whenever I was sad, lonely, or just needed her there for me, she would be there. She would cheer me up, tell me all sorts of stories and play games, we were normal sisters. But, one day, I couldn’t find her, and when I asked  Runaan  if he knew where she was, he told me she was going through something. Something personal, and something I wouldn’t understand. That I’d see her again soon, but not for as long as I’d like. I didn’t know what that meant, but I just assumed everything was  gonna  be fine. 

“Later that evening,  Vilya  came to me, and with her she carried all of her belongings in bags. I was so confused, and when I asked where she was going, she just leaned down and hugged me, and told me that she’d miss me. I kept asking and asking what was wrong, and all she said was ‘It’s nothing. I just learned that I have a really strong connection to Moon Magic. I’m not  gonna  be an assassin anymore. I need to figure things out, and unlock my abilities. I’m  gonna  be a mage.’ 

“After one last goodbye, she said she’d visit me every chance she got. I was only eight when she left, and it was so incredibly hard on me. Since I was training specifically under  Runaan’s  teachings, I didn’t have many friends in the guild, they were all much older and hardened than I was.  Vilya  was the only thing I had, my only family. And then she just...left. I did see her again, about a year after that. During the winter solstice,  Lunumbra  has one of its biggest festivals of the year, and everyone comes about to celebrate together.  Vilya  came back for it, and while I was hugging her and  crying,and  telling her how much I missed her during our reunion, she didn’t seem to react. She was a lot more stoic and serious, and treated my affection as just some childish antics. She didn’t stay long, and she left the same day she came back. 

“The year after that she came back during the festival again, but now she was even more cold and distant than she was before. She had little regard for me, and spent most of the day speaking with  Runaan , and at one point she stormed off from him after an argument with him, and that was the last time I had ever seen her. Until now, anyways. I have no idea why she became like this. I don’t know what it’s like being a mage, a part of me wonders if this was from all the training she went through, or if this is something way deeper. I want to ask her, but at the same time...I really just don’t want to be around her. She won’t tell us anything, and I have no idea what she’s doing right now, and she seems to care about me even less than she did all those other times, somehow.

“Everything’s just...really stressful.” Rayla finished, her shoulders sinking as she stared at the floor.   


“Wow…”  Callum  breathed. He sidled closer to  Rayla , and put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer in a comforting side embrace. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that, it must’ve been awful.”

“It was,”  Rayla  spoke softly, leaning into his touch willingly. “I was alone and felt forgotten, most nights after she left, I would lose sleep just lying awake, wondering if she was thinking about me or missing me too. But eventually, I just gave up on her. She never came back, and  Runaan  kept telling me to just let her go, and after so much wanting, and wishing, and  _ praying  _ she’d just come back home, I just stopped caring. I needed to move on. I started feeling better--and doing better too--and when I finally was chosen to go out on the mission out of  Xadia  I was ecstatic. I felt like, for once, I belonged with these people in the guild, and I proved myself to be something more than just a child. And now, most of my team probably died that night in the castle thinking I still am just that incompetent child who doesn’t know any better. And then  Vilya  comes back, and I still don’t know where  Runaan  is, a-and I…”

 

Rayla  was starting to get worked up, choking on her words and trying desperately to hold back the tears. But ultimately, she just couldn’t. She leaned her head into  Callum’s  shoulder and cried softly, and  Callum  rubbed his hand along her back in a comforting sense. He could really connect with her pain--while, no, he didn’t have a mysterious and brooding older sibling who came back into his life at the wrong time and parents who straight up just abandoned him, he knows the feeling of being so overwhelmed all too well. Stress and anxiety can hurt, especially when you’re at your highest point, when you feel so unbreakable, you end up falling apart anyway. He’d never felt that in another person before, so being able to comfort  Rayla  while she struggles through something he constantly suffers, it made him feel less abnormal about his problems.

 

“It’s  gonna  be okay  Rayla ,” he whispered, bracing her against himself as she wrapped her arms around him in a tighter embrace. “It’s  gonna  be okay. We have each other, we’ll figure something out together. If we have to leave  Vilya , we’ll do it. We focus on today, and we’ll focus on tomorrow, tomorrow.”

 

They stayed like that for a couple minutes, just holding onto each other and basking in the presence of themselves.  Callum  wasn’t sure when rubbing her back sympathetically turned into holding her closer and stroking her hair, but he couldn’t say it made a difference to him. It got  Rayla’s  small sobs to eventually die down, and now she just breathed shallowly with her head rested on his shoulder. Sure, her horns were  kinda  poking into the back of his head a little, but caring about himself was the last thing on  Callum’s  current agenda.  Rayla  had been there to comfort him even in times when he rejected it, now he can only begin to return the favor.

 

The sound of the door in the hallway reopening tore them away from each other,  Callum  practically jumped back to the other side of the couch as  Vilya  reemerged into the living room. Her long sleeveless coat was absent from her attire, and her hair looked a little tousled, even as she ran a hand through the whiteness of her pixie-cut.

 

“Hey  Vilya ,”  Callum  said, nervously brushing his hand to the back of his neck. He didn’t know why he was so flustered all of a sudden, but he tried his best to not let it show. “What, ah, what were you doing?”

 

Vilya  eyed him in suspicion, but answered anyway, “Taking a break. Today’s been quite eventful and I needed to put away the things I gathered in the forest, so I took a little time for myself, as well as letting you have yours.”

 

“O-Oh, yeah, makes sense.”

 

Vilya  sat down on the other couch before them, letting her back stretch out and she sighed, her usual tall and intimidating stature relaxing for a bit. She looked to the small ball that was  Zym  in a scarf on the floor and snickered. “He sure looks comfortable.”

 

“Yeah…”  Rayla  responded hesitantly.

 

Her eyes flicked over to the cauldron boiling in the fireplace. “ Y’know  I’m currently using that to make some special herbal tea for potion recipes I’m working on, but once I’m  done  I suppose I could make some of that  prismora  soup I know you used to like,  Rayla . Would that sound good?”

 

“Oh, uhm...sure I guess…”  Rayla  shrugged, shifting awkwardly in place.

 

Vilya  held a brief, but rather intense gaze over  Rayla , inspecting her, almost. It might’ve been a little obvious that  Rayla  was crying not too long ago, but then  again  her tears tend to dry fast, and  Vilya  seemed just as tired as she was right then. So,  Vilya  broke her stare and got up from the couch, and left into the room opposite from the one she went in before in the hall.

 

Rayla  let out a breath she wasn’t aware she had been holding in for so long, sliding further back into the cushions of the couch. “I swear, she really  _ does _  have the worst timing.”

 

“True.”  Callum  agreed. “But I mean, hey, it’s not so bad here. At least she’s  gonna  feed us.”

“Oh, she better be feeding us, or else I say we riot.”  Rayla  joked, earning a smile from  Callum , and shared a peaceful chuckle with him.

 

Zym’s  head started to peak further out of the scarf, and he blinked his sleepy eyes at the two of them on the couch. He pushed himself out of the ball he was wrapped in, shaking his mane like a wet dog and stretching.  Rayla  grinned, and got off the couch to pick him up. She tucked him under one arm and picked up  Callum’s  scarf as well, handing it back to him.

 

“Hope you don’t mind the fur,” she said as he took it with a smile. “It seems to be the only thing about him that isn’t brimming with powerful, uncontainable magic.”

   
Callum plucked the little white strands of fur from the scarf, winding it back around his neck. “The only dangerous thing about it now is the slight itchiness, but I think I can manage.”

Zym  quirked his head innocently, tongue lulling out the side of his panting maw.  Rayla  ruffled his fur playfully, and while the dragon wanted to go up and give her static-y licks all over her face, she set him down beside  Callum  on the couch.

“I think I’m  gonna  go and try to talk to  Vilya ,” she said warily. “I honestly don’t want to, but there’s still stuff we need to know that she hasn’t told us yet.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”  Callum  asked, looking about ready to stand up and follow her. “You don’t have to do it by yourself. I’m here for you, for whatever you need. Even if that means facing your dark and brooding older sister, I’ll still be here.”

Rayla  gave a sorrowful smile. “Thank you,  Callum , that’s a nice gesture, but I want to do it alone. I just want to try, at least. She seemed to be in a slightly better mood than before, so hopefully that sticks around long enough to hold a conversation.”

Turning around, she took a deep breath as she slowly approached the door  Vilya  went through. “If she’s  gonna  be with us for who knows how long, might as well try to make things less difficult.”

She grasped the knob in her hand firmly, trying to calm her nerves with one last exhale before twisting it—ever so carefully—and entering the room.

She immediately closed the door behind her, mainly so she wouldn’t have to face  Vilya  inside just yet. She wanted just a few seconds longer to wait, but she knew it’d end up into being shameless procrastination if she didn’t face what she’s already thrown herself into.

“ Rayla .” the deep and strong voice of her sister said from behind her. “Do you need something?”

Swallowing hard, she turned around to look at her sister, only for her eyes to be met with the sight of  Vilya’s  back towards her, as she leaned over a table near the corner of the room. Glancing about, it appeared to just be a normal, standard bedroom. A decently sized canopy bed against the left wall, a vanity dresser on the opposing side, a nice plush rug beneath her feet, and a partially curtained window in the wall ahead of her, the light of the outside turning into a slight orange tint; giving the impression it was already sundown.

“O-Oh, uhm--” the words were already caught in  Rayla  throat, feeling like she might just choke on air any minute now. “N-Not exactly. I just, ah, I just wanted to talk.”

Vilya  looked back at her, her eyes not sincere nor disapproving, and she nodded. “Okay then. What about?”

“Oh,  y’know ....stuff.”

Vilya  didn’t necessarily respond, but that stiff tension  Rayla  had been noticing in her sister’s posture throughout the day was lessened, so she felt welcomed enough to go and take a seat on the edge of the bed. However, silence still followed, and  Rayla  knew she had to take the initiative in the conversation, much to her dismay. Listening to the sound of  Vilya’s  hands moving about, she tried to look past her sister at her work. “ What’cha  doing?”

Vilya  shifted to the side, on the table now in visual was a basket full of an array of  Xadian  fruits, and two small porcelain jars, currently lidless. “I’m assorting my findings from the  Moonbrush . I’m putting the fruits I require for my ritual castings in one jar, other useful things that can be utilized in the second, and I’m saving whatever’s left in the basket to make the  prismora .”

The answer was as simple as that, and  Vilya  went back to work. Not really knowing where to continue from there,  Rayla  pondered a little longer to find a new subject.

“So. ..I  see you cut your hair...”

“Yeah.”

“It looks nice.”

“Thank you.”

Silence fell again. Well, so much for that.

Rayla’s  fingers were digging into the bedsheets, lips pursed tightly together, and she swore she could feel sweat beginning to bead on top of her brow. She didn’t want to say anything that will end up leaving her regretting it, but at the moment it seemed her topic really were quite limited.

“Hey, uh,”  Rayla  began again. “Have you...seen  Runaan  lately? Heard anything from him?”

“Not recently,”  Vilya  replied.  Rayla  watched as she popped a single  Moonberry  into her mouth while she spoke. “I assume you haven’t either?”

Rayla’s  heart sank, but she managed to not waver in her following sentences. “No, I haven’t. Not since we left for our mission in  Katolis . When I left with the princes for  Xadia , it was the last time I had seen him. I wasn’t sure if he had made it back by himself or not...”

“’Princes’,” To her surprise,  Vilya  followed along in the conversation. “I assume the other was the brother you spoke of?”

“Yeah,”  Rayla’s  voice was starting to crack a little, and she was trying so hard to keep her emotions down and focus on anything but  Runaan . “His name is  Ezran , and he’s real sweet. He was so close to coming with us into  Xadia , but, since our team followed through with one of our bindings to kill the King,  Ezran  decided it’d be best if he went back to the kingdom to rule while we ventured on.”

“Hmm,”  Vilya  hummed, and  Rayla  could swear she saw a smile perk onto her lips. “Wise kid.”

Vilya  closed off both jars, and put them on a free space on one of the shelves upon the wall. She turned back to  Rayla  with her arms folded, but was still content in her presence, in which  Rayla  felt grateful that things haven’t turned sour between them...yet.

“So, if you’re willing to answer me this now, why  _ did _  you take us to  Lunumbra ?”  Rayla , with her hands now tightly wound together in her lap, asked with hesitation.

Vilya  merely shrugged. “Just because you were hurt and in need of help didn’t mean I could absolutely drop everything for you. I have things I still need to take care of here, and while I don’t doubt your situation is important, I couldn’t just leave you. So, I thought taking you back here would be a good place for you to gather yourselves and rest, until you set off again.”

Rayla  stopped listening after  _ ‘I couldn’t just leave you.’ _  Those words spun around in her head, and jerked the emotion back in her chest to where she couldn’t feel like she could speak. Pushing it down again was harder now, but forcing herself was all she had at that moment. “Thanks, then. It’s a nice home you have.”

Vilya  cocked her head to the side. “It’s alright. Pretty meager but I get by, just consider yourself lucky I have enough room for you to stay here.”

Their discussion was going pretty well so far,  Rayla  wouldn’t lie. And the fact the  Vilya  was willing to cooperate and answer her questions made her feel reassured, like she wasn’t being ignored or demeaned. But now it was hard for herself to answer, and she wanted to curse herself badly for not being tough enough just to simply talk to someone.

“Yeah...” it was more of just a throaty noise, but it was still a word. “Do you have, like, a guest room we can stay in or something?”

“That  _ he’ll _  be staying in, but yes.”

“ What’s that supposed to mean? ”

** _______________ **

The night was fairly normal,  Vilya  made the  prismora  soup—which was surprisingly sweet and nectary—and while she didn’t say much, the teens were able to make some casual small talk with her, without feeling like she was looking down on them and preserving that harsh dominance over them. It was now into the evening, all was calm and quiet, and  Rayla  laid stiff on her back on the bed beside her sister, who was sound asleep rolled on her side away from her.

Vilya  insisted that  Callum  was to stay in the guest room by himself, with the company of  Zym  at the very most.  Rayla  certainly wasn’t too bothered by it, what was unfair to her, though, was being forced to stay with  Vilya  in her room. She tried to protest and suggest she just sleeps on the couch, but  Vilya  wouldn’t take no for an answer, and wanted to be able to keep a close eye on her.

Though, she is asleep now. Keeping an eye on her wasn’t really something she could do.  Rayla  let out an inaudible sigh through her nose, staring up at the plain, dark ceiling. She hadn’t slept for a while now, she estimated it had been about an hour or two after  Vilya’s  breathing slowed into a restful one. She couldn’t sleep; even when she tried to close her eyes, shut out the presence of her sister beside her, and just focus on resting for the night, she just couldn’t.

Because she kept thinking about  Runaan .

All throughout their journey to  Xadia ,  Rayla  hoped to whatever gods may exist that  Runaan  made it out okay. That somehow, someway, he made it back to  Xadia  safe and sound, and if luck was on their side, with the rest of the team as well. The thought of  Runaan  falling at the swords of the  castleguard  of  Katolis  made her stomach turn with a type of sickness she never experienced before.  Runaan  was one of the only people she knew she could trust completely, and if he was gone, she’d barely have any of those people left.

One of the only other ones was down the hall, probably asleep by now.

Against her better judgement, and her want for  Callum  to get a restful evening, she  _ needed  _ to talk to him. She had to get the dilemma off her mind, and he was the only person she could truly confide in right now.

Rayla  slowly sat up in bed, gently moving the covers off her body. Being as cautious as possible, her bare feet touched the cold wood floor, and she rose from the warmth of the bed into the chilly atmosphere of the house at night. She tip-toed to the door, as quietly as  elvenly  possible, and turned the knob and opened it just enough where she could slip her body through. Sparing a final glance at her sister, sound asleep and unknowing of her absence, she closed the door behind her and treaded off further down the hall.

Her heart leapt into her throat as she stopped in front of his door. She didn’t really know what was stopping her from just knocking already, but some part of her just felt like she shouldn’t do it. She shouldn’t go waking him up and bothering him with her problems again, not now, at least. Could this be something to wait until morning to talk about? Did this need to happen now? If she did go in there and wake him, would that be his answer? He was already so comforting and supportive for her earlier, but would he reject her company this late?

These thoughts were swirling about in  Rayla’s  head, new questions popping in left and right. Most of her mind was just screaming at her to go back to  Vilya’s  room and wait for a better time, but  Runaan  wouldn’t stop plaguing her thoughts.  _ ‘Just do it already,’ _  she thought to herself.  _ ‘Better late than never.’ _

She knocked softly on the door, and awaited a response. There was nothing. Her mind reassured her that her doubts were correct, and she should just go back, but her hands were already opening the door. Whatever doubts she had  were  to wait, just so she could see if  Callum  really was asleep or not.

And he wasn’t.

He was sitting cross-legged on the bed, drawing away in his sketchbook with  Zym  curled up at his foot. The lamp on the nightstand was still on, the brightness illuminating the room poured into the dark hallway with just the sliver of the door open. He glanced up at the sound of the creak, and the sight of  Rayla  made him stop drawing and sit up straighter, with surprise and concern.

“ Rayla ?” he asked, shutting his sketchbook.  Zym  yawned and looked sleepily in her direction as well. “Everything okay?”

“Not really,” she said with a small tremble in her voice, opening the door fully. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

** _______________ **

The morning rolled around, and  Rayla  stirred awake from a fairly decent slumber. She felt a whole lot better after talking with  Callum , just him being there for her and listening to her problems and worries made that much of a difference. Once she cried herself tired enough to sleep, she decided to crash on the couch instead of going back to  Vilya . She really just needed the space from her, she was stressed enough as it was.

Her eyes cracked open, and the light coming through the windows was sparse, but as she was regaining her surroundings, the sound of the front door opening had her sitting up fast enough to almost give her whiplash.

There, with her staff in hand and one foot out the door,  Vilya  was just about to leave, but she noticed her younger sister’s head peeking over the couch, which brought her to a halt.

“Morning.”  Vilya  said nonchalantly. “I hope you slept well?”

Rayla  blinked and rubbed her eyes,  surpressing  a yawn as she asked, “Where are you off to?”

“I have some errands to run. In the meantime, you better stay here until I come back. It won’t take long, I promise.”  Vilya  explained.

Rayla  pursed her lips into a frown. “You said you’d be more honest with us, why aren’t you?”

“That’s a question I’ll have to answer later.” For once, it was  Vilya  who averted her eyes, not daring to look back at  Rayla . Her emotion was hard to read, like usual, but she seemed to be...almost ashamed of giving that answer.

“Just, behave.”  Vilya  continued. “Try not to have too much fun with him while I’m gone, yeah?”

Rayla  chuckled and shook her head, letting the tension go. “We’ll keep  Zym  out of trouble, don’t you worry.”

“Wasn’t talking about the dragon.”

The door shut before  Rayla  could even process what that meant, and when realization did come hitting her like a club, she wanted nothing more to run outside after her in a yelling fit. She gripped the velvety fabric of the couch in her fingers, letting out a long sigh, eventually just letting it go. Wasn’t worth it, and she knew it.

At that point, the door to the guest room opened, and  Callum  emerged into the living room with  Zym  clutched onto his shoulder. Seeing  Rayla  half-laying on the couch in an interesting position, he grinned and visibly held back a laugh. “Did you manage to get some sleep?”

Righting herself,  Rayla  huffed and stared back with her own cocky grin. “Nah, I just stayed up all night like that, unmoving and unblinking. I was going for a record, until  you  came in and ruined it.”

Callum  released his laugh, and it was infectious enough to allow  Rayla  to share in his amusement.  Zym  hopped off  Callum’s  shoulder and fluttered onto the opposite couch.

“Where’s  Vilya ?”  Callum  asked when their laughter eventually died down.

“She just left.”  Rayla  replied. “Not telling us where she’s going or what  shes  doing, as always.”

“I’m sorry that she’s being like this,”  Callum  said sincerely. “I wish there was something I could do to help.”

“Like I said before, it’s fine. It really is. You don’t have to  aplogize  for anything.”  Rayla  smiled softly. “ Vilya  is her own problem, and I’ll try to get whatever answers out of her that I can. I just don’t know when I’m  gonna  be ready for that.”

“You shouldn’t have to think like that, it’s unfair to yourself.  Vilya  is your sister, she shouldn’t be acting like that toward you.”  Callum  clutched the strap to his sketchbook in his hands tightly as he spoke.

“ Callum ,”  Rayla  got from her seat on the couch and put her hands on both his shoulders. “It’s fine. Trust me, okay? It’s nothing for you to worry about."

 

Callum  looked so ready to argue, but he just shook his head and looked to the floor. “If you say so.” he mumbled.

 

“Hey, cheer up. Today is  gonna  be fun, you know why?”  Rayla  now wore a smile, brimming with a new sense of charisma she hadn’t had before.

Callum  looked up at her with a raised brow. “Why?”

“Because,  Vilya  told us to stay here while she’s gone, which is exactly why we’re going to not do that and go somewhere.”

Callum  paled a little, but an intrigued look was visible on his face. “Where, exactly?”

“We’re  gonna  be taking a fun little trip to the Evenfalls!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hNNNGGG this chapter was supposed to be up MUCH sooner this evening but technical stuff got in the way akhrehfjfhjewg sorry for the wait. anyway, introducing our newest character into the story; Penny! a travelling performer who's on her way to visit her uncle in katolis. who is this uncle? you'll just have to wait and see ;)
> 
> anyway, sorry again for any more weird technical errors with this fic if they ever arise, i'm still new and learning but i think it's going surprisingly well since im usually the kinda person to mess shit up the first time i ever lay my hands on it. so if ever dun goof, i dun goofed and it's all on me.
> 
> but i don't think i have much else to say, other than that this chapter is approximately 7,676 words long and 15 pages in my Word document, and this is actually only half of what this chapter was supposed to be. part of those technical errors was my computer crashing as i tried to upload this chapter because it was so long. that being said, chapter 4 is coming soon and its also gonna be fairly long, so keep an eye out for it! byeeee!~ - Gigi


	4. Against the Tides

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum and Rayla take a trip to Rayla's favorite place in the city, and take some time forgetting their current problems.

Rayla spent an hour trying to get everything set for them to leave Vilya’s cottage. She was worried that in that time Vilya would’ve already returned home, but to her surprise, her sister was still out. While it relieved her, it only gave her even more incentive to hurry along and get out as quick as possible. The illusion spell on Callum’s cloak had already faded, so Rayla spent the majority of the time she had rummaging through Vilya’s wardrobe in search of anything that could be of use to them.

She eventually did find a decent item of clothing that could work; it was like the illusion spell on the cloak, a nice deep blue color with a crescent-moon clasp, however the cloak itself was small, and much less of a cloak than it was a riding cape with a hood. Even so, she handed it to Callum as she went off scouting for something else within the home.

When she returned, she carried with her these small bunches of Xadian berries, much like the Moonberries, only different in color. These varied from bright, vibrant oranges to dark purples, though once she squished them in her hands, they formed into this viscous blue goop, glutinous in texture and sweet smelling.

“It’s like how Moonberries have red juice,” Rayla had told Callum. “Dayberries have blue juice, and their viscid consistency makes for great syrup, as well as face paint.”

She proceeded to trace the liquid along his face, giving him markings much like her own, for when they were to leave he could blend in with the Moonshadow society better. It took Callum a lot to resist the urge to dab a finger onto one of the markings to taste the juice, but Rayla warned him not to, and just to let it dry. “We’ll have more time to taste-test berries and such later,” she had said. “For now, just keep it on your face and resist the temptation.”

Once they were all packed up and ready to go, Zym chirped from his spot on the couch as they approached the door to leave. He scrambled off, wobbling on his little feet and almost tripping over his wings—despite all the practice he’s been getting with using them—and jumped at Rayla’s leg with his big, pitiful puppy eyes.

“Aww,” Rayla whined as she picked him up. “I suppose we can’t just leave him here by himself, can we?”

“As much as I want to say he’ll be fine, we all know that’s a lie.” Callum replied with a sympathetic smile.

“Alright, little guy, in you go,” Rayla said as she put him back into Callum’s bag. He curled up comfortably and rested his chin on his paws, and Rayla gave him one last glance before shutting the flap over him.

“Think he’ll be fine?” Callum asked.

“I hope so. He’s a shifty little fella, I know that for sure.” Rayla sighed. “Let’s just try to be vigilant, okay?”

“Got it.”

** ____________________ **

They were back in the city, and Callum couldn’t be happier. He spent some time drawing the things he saw out there last night, but he was really yearning to see even more of it, to get his creativity flowing better.

As they walked along, Rayla pointed out some of the landmarks and areas she recalled from her childhood growing up in Lunumbra.

“That’s the Sylvis Cathedral,” Rayla gestured to a round, dome-like building made of lavender marble and gold. “Runaan took Vilya and I when we were younger to see a couple plays there. I remember this one time we went to go see one, and I didn’t really understand the ending, but when we came out Vilya wouldn’t stop bawling her eyes out.”

Callum snickered in response. “Really? Hard to imagine a tough, dark, and moody elf to have some kind of emotion.”

Rayla laughed as well, nodding. “Yeah, I bet if I bring that up again she’d deny it ever happening. But I will always remember her using my vest to blow her nose in between sobs. Never forget.”

She continued to show some of her favorite places from her past to him, and Callum couldn’t help but feel so overjoyed. He’d never known a whole lot about Rayla since meeting her, but seeing her finally able to open up to him about it, let alone being happy and reminiscing things from her childhood made him so glad. It seemed like ever since they stepped foot in Xadia, it had been a rollercoaster of emotions for her, and seeing her genuinely happy lit something inside him that he couldn’t quite name, but he didn’t need to recognize it to know it made him happy too.

It was when her smile and laughter abruptly stopped that he got worried. “What? What is it?” Callum asked her.

“Don’t say a word,” she mumbled into his ear, and he followed her gaze to two figures directly approaching them from the side. “Hands behind your back and let me do the talking.”

He followed her orders with a curt nod, and the two people walking up to them came to a halt. One was a man—seemingly late-teens-early-twenties—and a woman, visibly older, but shorter than him. The man held a cocky grin on his face as he spoke “Well, well, Rayla. Nice to see _you’re_ back in town.”

“Eugh,” Rayla scoffed. “What do you want, Fetor?”

“Oh, nothin’ much,” Fetor replied, pretending to pick at his fingernails as he spoke with this obviously condescending tone. “I’m just surprised that you’re still alive after the mission the Quietkeep announced you to be on, ‘couple weeks ago.”

“Yeah,” Rayla rolled her eyes. “So surprising. If that’s all, can we be on our way?”

“No, I don’t think that’s all.” Fetor said, glowering down at her. “I’d really like to know what happened to All’sie, if you don’t mind me asking.”

Callum looked to Rayla and was fighting the urge to step in, but Rayla’s already pale skin whitening even further gave him an idea to what the answer Fetor was looking for was.

“I—uhm—I don’t—” Rayla tripped over her words, idly fidgeting with her fingers.

“My cousin has been gone for far too long,” the woman beside Fetor spoke at last. “And we haven’t heard any word from the mission’s status so far, not even anything from Runaan. You have to know something, at least.”

The panic that was washing over Rayla was obvious, and Callum knew that if she didn’t give them a coherent answer, these guys could possibly get them into more trouble than what it’s worth. He had to try something.

“They sent her back.” Callum quickly intervened.

Rayla’s eyes widened, subconsciously putting a hand on his shoulder with ‘What are you doing?!’ screaming in her eyes. Callum instantly took note of that, and now, too late to turn back, continued.

“Ahem, I mean, they sent Rayla back, the mission leader did. He ah, said somethin’ ‘bout her bein’ too troublesome for the, ah, the mission…and decided it was best if she went ‘ome and they carried out ‘e deed.” He improvised, using the absolute _worst_ accent Rayla had ever heard in her life.

She wished she had a wall to bang her head against. Callum just gave them a sheepish grin as Fetor and the lady just stared at him in confusion.

“And who the hell are you?” Fetor asked, folding his arms against his chest.

“I’m…” Callum’s own panic was rising faster than he imagined, eyes darting in multiple directions at once for some sort of way to answer. “Situla.”

The silence that over took them was brief, for it was broken by the sound of Rayla being unable to contain her facepalm. Fetor and the woman looked baffled, and their lips curled upward in a way that made them look humored by this response. “Situla? Your name is _Situla_??”

Callum swallowed the lump in his throat. He didn’t know what was so wrong with the name, he had asked Rayla about some more Draconic words in the past and that was the first one he could think of on the spot—since he didn’t know any traditional Moonshadow elf names—so he went on with the charade anyway. “Uhh, yeah. Situla. Th-That’s me, alright.”

Fetor burst out laughing; ‘clutching his stomach and crying hysterically’ kind of laughing, and the woman couldn’t help but smile and shake her head. People still going about their day on the streets stared as they passed, but didn’t seem to pay much attention to the few of them.

Callum was still confused as to why it was so funny, and Rayla leaned over to his side while the pair that confronted them were distracted, whispering into his ear, “Nice going, ‘Bucket’.”

Oh. Well, that explains that.

“Man,” Fetor wiped a tear from his eye. “I thought I couldn’t be entertained today, but that was pretty good.”

“Oh hush,” the woman huffed, but still obviously trying to suppress a laugh of her own. “Not his fault for having that name. In fact, if I’m remembering correctly, doesn’t your name mean—"

“Jaeda!” Fotor gasped. “They don’t need to know that.”

Jaeda merely shrugged, looking back at Callum and Rayla. “If you truly know nothing, then we’ll be leaving. But please, if you receive any word or know any other information on the team’s whereabouts and well-being’s, please let us know.”

Rayla nodded, and as they turned to leave, Fetor gave Rayla one last glare as he followed behind Jaeda, disappearing back into the sea of Moonshadow elves that crowded the market. Rayla let her breath go, practically gasping for air. Callum brightened with a bit of confidence, but he wasn’t more surprised that that actually worked than Rayla, who puts her hands on his shoulders with a dead-serious look.

“How?!” she heaved. “How did you _pull that off?!_ ”

“I don’t know!” Callum told honestly. “I was really hoping for a miracle there, and I guess we got one?”

Rayla sighed, ‘tsk’ing and looking at the ground beneath them. “Well, please, for the love of all that is holy, don’t go doing that again.”

“Understood, I will no longer stand up to help you.” Callum said plainly, knowing that’s not what she meant, but didn’t exactly get his desired reaction.

“Good,” she replied. “It doesn’t matter what happens to me. Remember that our priority here is getting both Zym _and_ you to his mother, if something happens to me, it won’t invalidate the gesture that we’re striving for.”

“Rayla, c’mon.” she was already walking again, and Callum hurried to catch up behind her. “Don’t talk like that. I don’t want to imagine what it’d be like if something happened to you. No matter what, we’re taking Zym back to his Mom together. And besides, we’re fine now.”

“I suppose,” Rayla breathed out. It wasn’t necessarily another sigh, but she still didn’t look so pleased. “I just want you to know that _if,_ and that’s a big _if,_ something goes wrong and I can’t continue on with you guys, or even worse than that, don’t let it stop you from fulfilling the task. This is important, Callum. The entire fate of the continent is in our hands, and if we wait too long to fix problems that aren’t so temporary, the world could go down with us.”

Callum nodded, not speaking, but nodding nonetheless. He didn’t want to respond to it, and while he knew wholeheartedly that she was right, he didn’t want to imagine losing her. He didn’t want to lose anymore friends to this journey.

The strain in their silence didn’t last, as they’d seemed to adapt to relaxing around each other and carrying on when things got tense. Rayla was already back to showing him around the city, and he was back to hanging onto her every word as he stared in awe at the wonderful sights. He couldn’t wait for his next chance to draw.

** ____________________ **

As the paths in the earth got lighter, and houses and buildings grew sparse, they neared a section around the edge of the city where the trees were less dense, and sunlight finally had a chance to breathe through the thick forest canopy. Turning past a copse of trees into bright, morning sunlight, their vision crystallized to show them the sight they stood before, which was a canyon. Small and round, practically symmetrical on both sides, large rock structures jutted out of the tops of the cliffs, almost like statues that have withered away with time and age. The cliffs fell deep below them, just barely peeking over the edge, Callum could see a lake far down, but just barely with the shade of the cliffs cascading over the water. In the center of the canyon, as single, humongous tree protruded from the side of the cliff they stood before, naturally growing out the side of the rock, and extended all the way to the opposite end of the precipice. And on the other side was a waterfall streaming between the rocks, large and broad, an immense amount of water spilling over the edge of the earth, only to be cut in half; into two separate streams, by a large rock in the middle of the cliffside.

The chill in the air returned, much less extreme than it was in the Moonbrush, but it was enough for his breath to fog up the view before him. He didn’t mind so much, and the coldness creeping into the morning atmosphere wasn’t such a burden, for the breath that came from him was taken by the beauty of the canyon.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Rayla said from behind him, and he hadn’t realized how much he had wandered further into the canyon to notice his distance from her now. She came closer to stand beside him, looking at the colors of the golden sunlight reflecting over the jeweled water. A gentle breeze swayed in the air, rustling leaves in trees and stringing along bits of fallen nature across the ground.

“Yeah,” he marveled in the sight of it all. It seemed Lunumbra had so much more than he was hoping to see in his time in Xadia, part of him didn’t even want to let this place go just yet. “It’s wonderful.”

“I came around here a lot in the past, it was a great way for me to stop, think, and clear my head. I ended up doing that quite a bit, and being back here makes me feel welcome in this city again, for the first time in a while.” Rayla spoke, taking in the musty scent of the water mixing with the earthy smells of the trees, rock, and dewed over grass.

She brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear, and Callum couldn’t help but stare at her. Her gaze was cast out among the canyon—like his should’ve been at the moment—but seeing that content, soothed smile on her face was something he didn’t want to look away from just yet. It reminded him of how little he actually had seen Rayla genuinely happy. He’d seen her smirks and grins and playfulness from her remarks, but they couldn’t compare to this. She was happy, _truly_ happy, and he got to be here with her to experience it.

Of course he wanted to draw the Evenfalls. But he knew he’d draw her along with it.

It wouldn’t be complete without her smile.

“Callum,” her facing him again and acknowledging his presence made him jump a little, to which she giggled lightly. “Follow me, I want to show you something.”

He kindly took her lead and trailed behind, as she stepped forward to the giant tree growing out of the cliffside. “This thing has been here longer than the elves’ hatred for humans,” she said, stepping onto the tree’s massive roots. “It’s perfectly sturdy and is pretty deep into the canyon’s terrain, so a lot of people like to use it as a bridge.”

He followed along her down the tree, stopping partway into the tree’s length, in the very center of the Evenfalls’ canyon. She sat down onto the bark; much like the trees in the Moonbrush, its surface was smooth and light, and didn’t jut and poke out roughly like normal tree bark. He sat beside her, waiting and watching patiently in the direction she was looking in, which was high up in the sky.

“Wha—” he tried to ask, but Rayla hushed him with a finger, not even glancing at him as she stared intently passed the clouds.

A couple of moments later, he could see through the mist of the clouds, dark figures beginning to approach. Large, creature-shaped figures, with giant wings flapping at their sides. And, from what he could see now, these creatures weren’t alone, with something humanoid riding on each of their backs.

Bursting through the clouds with a powerful gust of wind, are these eagle-like creatures with strong, powerful wings, sharp talons, and large beaks. But beyond their abdomens are very obviously hooved legs, much like a horse’s, as well as a flowing tail of hair. Each of those creatures had riders, visibly elven in nature, as Callum could infer. But they, too, had large wings ejecting out of their backs, and tinted bluish skin. They were gone as soon as they arrived, however. Soaring across the sky practically as quick as light itself, and disappeared past another heavy cloud.

Callum stared in awe and wonder, even after they had vanished back into the sky, and Rayla grinned at his agape expression. “Cool, ain’t it?”

“What was that?” Callum respired quickly, almost forgetting to breathe as he was so entranced by the entire scenario.

“Those were Sky elves, and the thingies they were riding are hippogriffs. They came from the floating city of Procelle, higher than most mountains in Xadia can reach, and they fly out here often as practice drills. I don’t know much about it to be honest, I’ve never been to Procelle before, but I got to learn about this from Runaan. Every so often I’d come out here by myself just to see them passing by, collect any stray feathers and whatnot.” Rayla explained.

Glancing beside her, there were a couple of scattered feathers from the troop that flew above, and she picked one up and handed it to Callum. “Here,” she said, offering it to him. “As a sort of souvenir from our travels so far.”

He graciously took it in between his fingers, holding it carefully and stroking against its silky texture. “Wow, it really soft.”

“Yeah. I’m not sure if it’s from the hippogriffs or the riders, but hey, free feather.”

Callum’s intrigue in the feather diminished slightly, feeling a tinge of weirdness rising in his chest at the thought that the feather belonged to another person. Rayla simply chuckled.

“Y’know,” she began, her fingers now fidgeting in between each other. “I have to say, I am glad we came here. To Lunumbra. By all circumstances, we shouldn’t be here right now, and should be back on the path we came from…but here is nice.”

Callum quirked an eyebrow. “What exactly do you mean?”

Rayla bit her lip and shied away a little. “Well, ah, how do I put this into words…it’s just nice out today. I feel relaxed, calm, like all the stress has gone away, and will stay away until I’m pushed back into reality. This has been like my little sanctuary of thoughts and inner turmoil for a long time, and I guess if we didn’t come here, I’d still have it all bottled up inside me.”

Callum understood. “Yeah, I get it. Sometimes it’s nice to have the space to breathe and figure out your thoughts. This place is nice, and I’m glad it makes you happy. And, I’m glad you wanted to share it with me. Happy places _are_ like sanctuaries, and sometimes letting other people into them is hard. So, I really am grateful that you’d let me come here with you.”

Callum gave her a warm and cheery smile. “Though, I didn’t expect your happy place would have this much water.”

“I don’t think I expected it either,” she laughed. “But sometimes you don’t need to expect it to know you’ll like it.”

They basked in the calmness of the morning, just sitting beside each other and watching the clouds pass by. Eventually, Rayla glanced at him, saying “I guess we’re getting to the level of closeness now, huh?”

Callum blinked in confusion. “Hmm?”

“Remember? When we were at Lujanne’s nexus-place-thing, you said that you and I didn’t really have the same level of closeness that you had with Soren and Claudia, and I still don’t think we do yet. You’d known them all your life and you’ve only known me about a month. But I think we’ve getting there, a little. I like to think that we are, anyway.”

 Callum’s response of silence made her backtrack in the way she spoke. “Then again, we’re only just friends. I mean—well, what I meant was—just, we haven’t known each other long, but I feel like we have. You know? Right? Maybe I’m not making sense—”

“Rayla, calm down,” Callum chuckled, to her relief. “No, I understand what you mean perfectly. I hadn’t really thought about it until now, but you’re right. While I have known Soren and Claudia for so long, it doesn’t mean I really _knew_ them. Soren was always kind of distant, and I couldn’t really ever get the courage to talk to Claudia on my own, so I can’t say I know a whole lot about them personally.”

“But I know you,” he continued. “Because you’ve let me know you. And, I have to say, I never really had that before. It’s kind of new and weird, but a good new and weird.”

“I take it you didn’t really have many friends?” Rayla asked.

“Not really. I think that’s why I was so keen on trusting Soren and Claudia at first. They were the only people besides Ezran that I was close enough to consider friends, that I didn’t even consider if they felt the same way. Especially Claudia. I know she’s a good person, even after what she’s done. She’s always complied with rules and instructions and behaved well. So I can’t help but think maybe she doesn’t make conscious decisions by what she wants, rather by what people want of her.” Callum rambled a little, letting his thoughts spew out of him for Rayla to listen to.

“I want to still have trust in her, at the very least. I want to believe she didn’t wish for things to turn out this way, that she didn’t want to hurt you or Zym, but I know it isn’t true.” He sighed. “I don’t think she was raised with the best morals. She doesn’t value all kinds of life, that’s why she uses Dark magic. And most importantly that means she doesn’t value you. And you’re my friend, even if I’ve known her longer, it doesn’t make her right to think that you deserve what she and Soren were planning to do with you.”

“She was misguided,” Rayla said softly. “She didn’t know the difference between right and wrong in this world other than what she’s been told all her life. While I still don’t like her, I can’t blame her entirely if that’s how she was raised.”

“Yeah, but I was raised to think that elves were monsters and they shouldn’t be trusted, but that wasn’t true at all. You taught me that it wasn’t true. You could’ve taught them that it wasn’t true, but it’s their own fault that they were too ignorant to listen.” Callum huffed.

Rayla furrowed her eyebrows in concern. “You okay? You’re getting a little worked up.”

“Yeah, I know…” he exhaled, running a hand through his hair. “I’m just still conflicted about them. The more I wish I could forgive them, the more I realize just how bad they were, and it makes me so angry to think that I even trusted them in the first place. I know I couldn’t help it, but, it just makes me want to hate them. I’m trying to let them go, for now at least. Thinking about them is leaving a sour taste in my mouth.”

“Well, that’s why we’re here. We can think and vent and rant to our heart’s content, and it’s why I’m here too. To listen to whatever you need to get off your chest.” Rayla said.

Callum’s smile returned. Sad, but comforted. “I know. I’m glad.”

Even as another breeze passed by, the chill didn’t crawl over them as they just shared in each other’s presence. Sometimes, it was like time stopped when they looked at each other. It could be just them in their own little world and no one else would matter. And as much as they enjoyed that, it was becoming a bad habit.

“There you guys are!”

From the edge of the tree-bridge, already walking along the roots towards them, was a slightly disgruntled looking Vilya. And even more surprising, in her hands was a very excited looking Zym.

Callum immediately went to his bag, and sure enough, the flap wasn’t latched, and he and Rayla had the same nervous stare. Their already paling faces dampened with a bead of sweat despite the cold weather, and as Vilya caught up to them, she neither glared nor growled.

“I found this little guy wandering the streets, he ended up in a Moonberry bush and had a grand ol’ time getting his fill for the day.” Vilya told rather calmly. “Now, I wonder how he ended up there?”

They were at a loss for words, incoherent noises being the only thing that could spike in their voices. “H-How did you find us here?” Callum eventually managed to get out.

“This isn’t an uncommon place where idiots—or simply reckless teenagers, in your case—come to spend the day forgetting responsibilities. Plus I asked around, because I knew if the dragon was out and about, you probably were too.”

“I’m so sorry Vilya,” Rayla pleaded. “It was all my idea, and I know we shouldn’t have left, but we really just needed to get away for a while, and—”

Vilya shoved Azymondias into Rayla’s hands and pointed to the path behind her. “Start walking.”

Rayla shut her mouth and said no more, walking back down the tree and to the cliffside with her head hung low. Callum was about to follow, but a firm hand to his chest stopped him where he stood. “Just her. You and I need to have a talk.”

Rayla looked back at them anxiously, seeing as they weren’t moving. Callum just gave her a reassuring smile, and Vilya didn’t even face her. Having trust in Callum, and reluctantly her sister, Rayla continued on back into Lunumbra.

“Sooooooo…” Callum trailed, not really knowing what he was to expect.

Vilya put her hands on her hips and stared him down. “I initially trusted you because Rayla does. While I know her decisions are not always the wisest, don’t think I haven’t noticed how she turns to you for help and sympathy. And I don’t have a shadow of a doubt that leaving this morning was her idea, but this isn’t the reason I’m berating you.”

Callum listened intently as she spoke. “Rayla’s friend or not, you’re still a human, Callum. A Prince of Katolis, the most villainous of all human kingdom’s in the eyes of Xadia, after our Dragon King was slain. You’re here now to help atone for those actions, to bring back the heir to the throne and show our people that you wish to not be considered at threat any longer. I still hold onto my belief that this won’t change Xadia’s opinions on humans, but I do think this could be a step in the right direction to prevent a war being waged between us.”

“I know I may not be the most confident,” Callum responded. “But I can promise you that I will do whatever it takes to prevent this from happening, and will return Zym to his mother where he belongs.”

“That’s nice to hear, but I wasn’t finished.” Her voice like ice, Vilya glowered at him and Callum immediately silenced himself. “The reason why I think you’ll be able to pull it off and get the elves to hear you out is not for the saving grace of a silver tongue, or the mere gesture of returning the Dragon Prince, but it’s because you possess something no other human has.”

“…Generosity?”

“Primal Magic.”

“Oh, yeah, that…” Callum sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “But I mean, that isn’t all that special. It wasn’t like it was impossible, I kept being told by every magicky person I met that all I had to do was connect with the Arcanum.”

“But humans can’t do that.” Vilya’s demeanor allayed, no longer talking down to him other than in a physical sense, as she spoke with a careful tone. “Everyone knows for a fact. It’s not that they didn’t try hard enough, it’s because they were created and put into this world from nature unrelated to the mystic origins of the elements. Elves tried all they could to help them and unlock any abilities to the Arcanum for them, but there was nothing for them to unlock. That’s why Dark Magic arose, birthed from the anguish of humankind’s rebellious personalities, to find ways around mountains that can’t be conquered, even at the cost of other people’s lives.”

“You seem to know a lot about the history of magic.” Callum stated. “How did you learn about this?”

“Every mage must embark on learning about the source of all mystical power in order to truly become one with their abilities.” She explained. “It’s what I was taught as I grew up learning Moon Magic. Knowledge is the true key to unveiling the mysteries life holds hidden. Some people never want nor need to learn the truth, others will never be complete distinguishing what it all means. Fate is the decision maker, and people like me—and you as well—are the ones who need to know.”

“Wow,” Callum breathed, taking in the meaning of her words. “That’s deep.”

“It is. And you possessing a connection with the Sky Arcanum might be one of the first things ever that magic holds no answer to. It _might_ be.” Vilya looked at him now with a new gaze, one that was astute and prepared as she continued, “Callum, how far will you go to find out?”

He blinked at the question, but took his time processing it in his mind. When he looked at her again, he wore a determined grin. “However far it is.”

Vilya nodded, and gripped her staff in both hands. In a flash, she swung it directly into his frame, the crystal hitting his abdomen and knocking him free of all air in his lungs. The force of the impact sent him sprawling backwards, and over the edge of the tree bridge.

Now plummeting, Callum felt his life flash before his eyes. He saw every little detail, like it was all happening from the beginning again, and forgetting it instantly as the water of the ravine grew deadly close. With a resounding splash echoing off the cliff walls, he crashed into the water, fully submerged.

He didn’t feel anything. From the height of the bridge above, he assumed if he wasn’t already dead, he must’ve hit every nerve and his body and was completely paralyzed. He was devoid of breath, devoid of sight, and felt like he was weightless in a void with no end. But this wasn’t it. It _couldn’t_ be the end. He couldn’t—why would—why would Vilya do that?

_“Callum, you need to breathe.”_

It all became familiar to him again. In his feverish state, he sunk and sunk into a cold, boundless ocean, with no direction or freedom of movement. It was like he was watching himself do it all over again, and his racing thoughts slowed as he drew in a deep breath.

Air came to his lungs, and all of a sudden, it was like he was being pulled against the strongest current he’s ever felt before. Like he was racing up, and up, and up into the sky, and soon enough he was jettisoned out of the water itself and flung into the air. He fell back a couple feet onto the hard surface of ground, coughing and gasping for oxygen as he gained his surroundings. He was no longer at the Evenfalls, though he could swear he heard the same rushing water somewhere in the area. He laid on rugged, damp ground of a rocky cave, dark and chilling, with various pockets and tunnels of all sizes built within the walls. And before him was a pond-sized body of water, which rippled with new movement arising.

Out of the water again came a figure, and jumping out from the pool and nailing a three-point landing on the bottom of the cavern beside him was Vilya. She got up, seemingly unfazed, shaking the water from her hair as she extended a hand to his prone form.

She hoisted Callum up from the ground, and he looked around, asking. “What just happened? Where are we?”

“You took the first step,” Vilya says, ringing water from her coat. “And now, we begin walking to our answers.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey!! it's back!! it seems that it's already been a week since the last chapter, so i'm thinking that maybe updates will come once a week from now on? it'll help me keep pace with the story as well as having more time to my personal life, but knowing my own consistency being so out of wack most of the time i doubt that'll actually be what happens. but at least i'm consistent about staying up until 1:00am to post this on ao3 and ignoring the fact that i have to be places early in the morning! haha...(kill me).
> 
> but i hope you enjoyed this chapter. it really felt refreshing to write this one, and i've been in a pretty good mood the past few days to gain a lot of motivation for the chapters to come. 4 chapters is already a pretty big deal for me, because in the past i've never gotten passed like 2 or 3 because i end up losing interest. this has been a great breakthrough for me and my writing and i'm glad i get to post it here for you guys to read. and thanks for all the support so far!! even though this hasn't gotten much attention yet, all the comments i've been getting really mean the absolute world to me and i'm overjoyed that my crazy ideas aren't that crazy to other people.
> 
> but enough of my gushing, i hope that this chapter was as fun to read as it was for me to write (i really got back on my rayllum bs for this one lmao) and i'll see you guys in the next one! byeeeee! - Gigi

**Author's Note:**

> omyfhghgdkgj am i doing this right i have no idea--
> 
> anyways i hope you enjoyed this and want more! i like what i have set in motion so far and where its gonna lead, but i have to say im also pretty insecure about this story because i feel im being way too repetitive with my writing. tbh thats always been a pretty big feeling i've had, and it's really kept me away from posting my works to places like this. oh, and just a side note, i dunno if you know this but im a huge d&d nerd so the way i write/describe things like magic, creatures, etc. in this will be heavily based off of stuff in d&d 5e just because i love it sm,, so if you aint a fan of that s'cool but this might not be the fic for you
> 
> so yea, hope you liked it and want more in the future, because there's certainly more to come and chapter 2 is almost finished, so i don't think it will be long until then. byeee! - Gigi


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